Embracing the Light in the Dark
by Aura Phoenix Bakura
Summary: Another RP between myself and a friend. Misc. pairings. This story has EVERYTHING angst, drama, violence, suspense, magic, I mean literally everything. And...it's LONG! Rated M for sex, violence, language. OC involved.
1. Chapter 1

Aura sat at the bar sipping her drink, she normally didn't care much for these kinds of places but she needed to relax a bit. Just then, a white-haired man entered, his head hung low. A black trenchcoat was wrapped tighter over his shivering body and flakes of snow from the cold winter night were speckled in his hair. He made his way past Aura and sat next to her, the only open seat available.

Taking another sip she glanced over at the man who sat next to her. She grumbled softly but didn't move, then looked back over at him, "cold outside?" she asked then mentally kicked herself for the crappy hello line

He turned to her, piercing crimson eyes staring her down as he opened his mouth to speak. "It tends to be when there's snow outside, no?"

She couldn't help but chuckle, "yea I suppose so." her eyes shifted to the window to see it snowing and she sighed.

He turned slightly and pounded his fist on the table in front of him suddenly. A server came over and the white-haired man gave his order in a low, gruff voice before the server ran off.

She looked away grumbled shifting her glance from the man and took a bigger sip, 'oook' she thought, while the man drummed his fingers on the table impatiently, his gaze set on the window outside.

Slowly, she looked back over at him and knew she was gonna regret opening her mouth but she did anyway, "everything alright? You seem upset."

He turned back to her, the noise of her voice drawing him out of his trance. "Peachy," he muttered, his gaze still not lifting from the window. "And you?"

She grumbled looking away, "sorry for bothering you." she muttered wishing for a stronger drink

Finally, he turned away from the window to see a beer dropped before him. "You didn't respond to me," he said to Aura after he took a huge sip of his drink.

"Hmm?" she looked over at him. "Oh, yes sorry, I'm fine." she finished her drink and ordered something stronger.

"You don't seem very fine," he said, thinking about her drink order. He took another sip of his beer.

"Petty problems, nothing serious." she took a drink and her face twisted slightly, it was stronger than she expected.

The crimson-eyed man chuckled. "Too strong, huh?"

She grumbled, "I forgot how strong they make them here."

He nodded. "What's your name, girl?"

She looked over, "Aura, and you are?"

"Bakura," he grunted.

She took another sip and sighed, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," Bakura replied, sipping his drink as well. A phone started to buzz suddenly and he pulled it out, frowning.

Glancing over at him as he pulled out his phone and she looked away feeling a bit awkward

He cringed slightly as he shut the phone, sipping his beer until the glass was empty. "Look, I need a favor," he told her suddenly.

She looked over at him confused about to take drink but set it down instead, "a favor?" she echoed 'strange'. "What is it?"

"I need you to take my trenchcoat, not touch anything in it, and drop it off at a certain address." He glanced outside before turning back. Bakura started smoothing his hair.

"uh..." she trailed off it seemed fishy but she didn't care, "sure?" she muttered turning towards him.

He nodded almost frantically, smoothing his hair faster now. He took of his coat and handed it to her. "Don't touch a single thing in there," he warned her. He handed her a slip of paper with an address. Outside, sirens were heard.

She took the jacket and the paper then looked at them, she considered putting it on but slung it over an arm instead, "alright." she said nervously then turned to walk out the bar taking one last glance at him before dropping money on the table and walking away

The coat was a lot heavier than it originally appeared, dragging her down. Outside, about four or five police cars were parked and a few officers were running out and aiming their guns at the bar.

She was about to leave the bar when she saw the police there and froze glancing back at Bakura, "um..." she trailed off not sure if she should go outside or not.

Bakura glanced outside, muttering curses. "How the hell did they find me so quickly...?" He gave a final pat to his hair, then smoothed his clothes slightly. He turned to Aura. "Go through the back entrance. Don't even try the front," he told her.

She looked at him questionly but nodded and quickly slipped out the back of the bar then down the alley way glancing at the address, "suppose I should call a taxi then?"

Bakura slipped through the front, head down. He managed to slip past the police who, shortly after his departure, stormed the bar. He raced to the place listed as the address.

She found the place wasn't far from the bar and when she arrived there she stepped up to the door and knocked, waiting, now nervous. 'I didn't think this through' she thought

The door opened and the boy who answered looked almost exactly like Bakura. However, his eyes were a deep chocolate brown, his features softer, and his hair much tamer. "Who are you?" he asked her in a cautious tone.

"Um," she paused looking at the boy, "I met Bakura at a bar not far from here. He told me to bring this," she raised the jacket slightly, "to this address."

The boy shivered. "D-did you say B-Bakura?" he asked quietly. Looking around, he motioned her inside.

She narrowed her eyes on him but nodded stepping inside, "um, what's going on?" she asked not sure if she would get an answer or not

He closed the door quickly behind her and took the jacket, almost dropping it in the process. He set it down on a table a few paces away. "I'm so sorry you had to do that," he started, frowning.

She noticed his movements, he was nervous or afraid, or something to that effect. "Hey, are you alright?" she asked moving towards him, worried.

He shook his head. "N-Not really." Slowly, he began opening and dumping the contents of the jacket on the table. There was jewelry, cash, and other assorted items.

Her eyes went wide as he dropped the contents of the jacket on the table. 'great now I'm an accessory to his crime' she thought and became worried for this boy, "forget the items for a moment, what's wrong with you?"

The boy didn't answer as he sunk down into a chair nearby. "It's a lighter haul than usual..." he muttered.

She didn't know what to say to do, "um, are you two brothers or something? You both look allot alike."

"Something like that..." He muttered. "So, who're you? His next little crime helper?" The white-haired boy stood.

She sighed, "I guess now I am yea. I just kinda met him at a bar not too long ago, we only exchanged names before he asked me to bring that here." she felt a bit worried now but was more worried for him

The boy bit his lip and nodded, then stuck out his hand almost hesitantly. "I'm Ryou," he told her. "What's your name?"

She took his hand and shook it lightly, "Aura, it's nice to meet you."

"Aura, that's pretty," he told her. "Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Ryou headed into another room, no doubt the kitchen.

She followed him, "some water would be nice," she rubbed her forehead, she was a bit more intoxicated than she thought.

"Okay!" he told her, now smiling. "It's been so long since I've had company," he chirped as he grabbed a cut and started filling it. "Not too many people stop by here these days."

She smiled back, though she was still worried, "well I'll make it a habit to swing by and see you more often. Or you can come by my place, either way. If that's alright, that is."

He turned to her, grinning larger than a child on Christmas Day. "Really! You'd actually come back to visit me!" he asked excitedly.

She smiled, "sure, why not? You seem nice." 'he seems too nice to be hanging around Bakura.' she thought

He smiled larger, handing her the glass of water. "You promise? You swear?"

She took it and nodded with a bigger smile, "yea of course! Promise!"

"I like you!" he announced out of the blue. Ryou stood on one of his counters and pulled out a partially eaten loaf of bread. "Do you want some?" he asked her.

She giggled, "I like you too, and yea, I'd like some." she said, she really didn't want any but it would help with the alcohol that was going to her head.

Ryou turned the bread and held it out to her, smiling. "A lot of people don't like me..." he murmured. "It's surprising to see someone different."

"aw, I don't see why not, you're sweet." she took a piece of the bread and began eating it

He took a huge bite of bread as well. "Well, I try to be. Bakura's not very nice though. He scares people often, including me..." he ended at a mumble.

"Scares?" she frowned taking another bite, "he hasn't...hurt you...has he?"

Ryou didn't speak. He stared at the floor, gripping his slab of bread tightly.

She scowled her face and moved forward placing a hand on his shoulder, gently, "why do you stay here with him if he does hurt you?"

Ryou shivered under her grasp. "I can never leave..." he said just barely above a whisper.

Aura frowned, "I don't understand, why can't you, you shouldn't have to put up with abuse, I mean I can't do much but..." she trailed off not knowing what she could do

Ryou shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. "He's everywhere..."

Her hand pulled from his shoulder for a moment, and for a second her heart stopped, "everywhere?" she echoed, "w-what do you mean?"

Ryou's eyes suddenly widened and he gripped his chest in pain. "Y-You should g-go."

"No, Ryou, what's wrong?" she asked moving closer to him placing her hands on his arms trying to console him

"N-No... G-Go away..." he whispered to her, gripping his shirt tightly.

She didn't know what to do something inside her told her to run like he said, but she felt the urge to stay and help him as was too confused to move. "N-no." she stuttered pulling him into a hug, "whatever he's done to you I know you can be stronger."

He shook his head, shoving her back and standing. Ryou let out a horrid, pained scream that echoed through the house as a bright light surrounded him and blinded Aura.


	2. Chapter 2

She was pushed from him and went to move forward again but was blinded by the light. Raising her arms to her face, she turned her head from the light.

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the light dimmed then faded all together. Standing in Ryou's place was Bakura looking agitated.

Slowly, she lowered her arms and took a step back seeing Bakura standing there. "W-where's Ryou?" she asked with a stutter.

"Gone," he said simply, eyeing the coat. "So you managed to bring it, good for you." Bakura walked over to the table and sat. "Why are you still here? Do you expect a share?"

"No, I don't care about that," she said turning towards. "Ryou and I are...are friends."

He actually laughed. "You? Friends with that spineless waste of space?" Bakura chuckled darkly. "He has all the friends he needs already."

She grit her teeth taking a slight step forward, "and who are you to tell him who he can or cannot be friends with? Or how many friends he can have?"

"He is my host and therefore I control his entire life," Bakura said simply as if they were discussing the weather.

"Host?" she echoed easing slightly, "like you possess his body?"

Bakura ignored her, sorting the haul he had brought in.

She growled, now irritated, "if that's true then you're a guest in his body right? So you don't rule his life, you should be happy you even have the chance to use a body! Let alone someone as nice as him."

A knife soared passed her and landed mere inches from her skull in a wall. "Don't you dare try and lecture me," he said in a low, murderous tone.

She froze suddenly, her heart racing a mile a minute. It took me a moment to recover, "Yugi and the others warned me about you, I never saw it though Ryou was always so sweet." she took a deep breath.

His head snapped up, glowing crimson orbs narrowing. "The Pharaoh's midget you say?"

"y-yea, that whole group, and Mokuba." she stuttered softy, she would have said Seto but he didn't give a two cents about him.

He laughed. "They're all pathetic. Ryou isn't allowed with them."

She growled, "you're so conceded! God I thought Seto was bad, you're so..."she stopped and shivered slightly. "evil," she said in a whisper.

He actually stood and bowed his head. "I try my hardest," Bakura said in a falsely sweet tone. "Besides, Kaiba's a pushover."

She growled, "don't talk about him like that!" she yelled suddenly.

"Why do you care?" he asked coldly. "Have a thing for the bastard, do you?"

She blushed and looked away from him down towards her hand, glancing at the ring sitting there. "that has nothing to do with you, got that?"

"Well, maybe if I kill him then it'll have something to do with me," he replied in steady amusement. "Now leave."

"Don't you touch him!" she yelled again, "and I'm not leaving until I know Ryou's safe!"

Bakura chuckled. "Ryou is never safe, Aura."

She feared for Ryou for that moment, "well then..." she paused thinking, "I'm not leaving." she crossed her arms with a defiant grunt. "until I can find a way to rid you of him."

"Oh you're not, are you?" His tone was dark and angry. As he stood, the entire room's atmosphere seemed to darken along with him

She shivered trying to keep her defiant attitude, "n-no, Ryou is my friend and I don't want to leave without him."

"You won't live long enough to see him again," Bakura murmured, a knife poised in his hand.

Her arms uncrossed as she attempted to take a step back only to find the wall there. "Why do you do this to him? What did he ever do to you?"

"Why, it was him who wished this on himself! That and he was the only host available," Bakura replied, advancing towards her.

"He wished someone like you in his life? That hardly seems like him." she said pressing herself against the wall, trying to sound confident

"No. I granted him a single wish as payment for residing in his soul," he replied.

"Wish? What did he wish for?"

Bakura continued drawing nearer and nearer. "Friends that would never leave him. And so, I gave them to him but he wasn't pleased. It was no longer my problem because the wish had been granted until the damn Pharaoh messed it up. Now he is simply left with nothing."

"Y-you're wrong, if those friends would never leave them, they'd still be his friends. It may be late, but I'm his friend, and I don't plan on leaving him anytime soon!" she said through her gritted teeth

"Oh, they left alright and now Ryou is alone. He has no friends, and you'll be dead soon anyway." He was about a foot away from her.

She reached into her pocket suddenly and grabbed her cell phone dialing a number. But didn't press send yet, "kill me fine, if it's meant to be, then it's meant to be." she stood upright, now fully confident in herself. "I told Ryou I'd be here for him and I intend too, alright? I'm sorry that he has a better friend than anything you could ever have."

Bakura glared, unimpressed. He stabbed his knife into the hand that held the phone.

Aura let out a growl of pain and dropped the phone gritting her teeth refusing to let out any more sound. "so, you're big and bad now?" she said with a shaky voice. "Killing me proves what? One less nuisance? In the end you'll still end up alone, and miserable, nothing will ever change that! You're lucky to have Ryou at all!"

He stabbed her again. "You annoy me," Bakura said simply.

She grit her teeth still attempting to stop from screaming at all. "Really? I figured that was obvious."

"So leave." He opened the door that she was leaning against, shoved her out, and locked it.

She fell back onto the ground and finally let out a growl of pain as she landed on her wounded hand. "You arrogant, self-righteous-gah!" she kicked the door hard, definitely putting some sort of ding into it. "I'm not done with you Bakura!"

Laughter was head from inside the house. Through a window, Bakura could be seen munching on the bread Ryou had been holding.

"Seriously, you have two seconds to open this door or I'm breaking through the window." she yelled remembering she left her cell phone on the floor.

"Fat chance!" he called back. He came up to the window, holding her phone and smirking before he crumbled it with one hand.

She growled, and cursed at him then began looking around. Picking up a rock she threw it at the window he was standing at shattering it. She didn't care about the phone that much she could get a new one easily, it was now just because she was pissed at him. Then, suddenly she regretted her actions

The look that he gave her could have killed a person. He lept out of the broken window, not caring that he landed on glass shards. "You bitch."

"shi..." she muttered backing up and forced a smile, "what's it to you if I broke a window? Not like you pay for it, or take care of this house, right?" she said /God why can't I keep my mouth shut?/

He gripped a knife tightly in one hand, a demonic look painting his face. "Those who disturb my property will die by my hand."

She backed away, nearing the street, "you keep threatening me with the same threat. Are you going to actually hold your word now?"

He sprung into action, cutting her deeply in the chest.

Finally let out a yell of pain as she fell back grasping her chest. She struggled to stay on her feet, "come on, surely you can do better than that!" she said coughing, growling in pain.  
>"Ms. Kaiba!" a voice shouted followed by a quick patter of feet. A couple guards ran up to her, keeping her still.<br>"Thanks for ruining the fun." she growled as one of them called the car around. "Well Bakura, what now?" she coughed, the corner of her lip stained with blood.

"I don't give a fuck." He lunged again, an idea forming.

Two guards stepped in the way of his lung just as a car pulled up behind her. The third guard forced her towards the car, "we need to get you to the hospital ma'am,"  
>"Call Seto, now." she ordered and he did pulling out his phone and calling him. That way even if he kills me, they know what happened, and where/ she thought

"Pathetic bitch!" He called after her. "Hiding behind others to do your dirty work!"

She laughed at him, "are you any different? When you get weak don't you hide in your host body? Kinda like the pot calling the kettle black isn't it?" she stood in the open door of the car, "don't think you're getting rid of me, we'll cross paths again I'm sure. Ryou and I share the same class, and friends."

He glared back. "At least I fight unlike you and that pathetic lover of yours." With that final comment, he stalked back to the house and slammed the door shut.

"That little..." she went to move forward after him but the Guard stopped her, so she got in the car instead. /Don't worry Bakura, I'll be back and we'll fight for real next time/ she thought.

Bakura went straight to his and Ryou's room, thinking. 'That girl will never be allowed to see Ryou again, I'll make sure of it...'


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, Ryou woke up bright and early to greet the new day. He was nervous at first, but after closing his eyes and focusing, he realized that Bakura was asleep in his soul room. Ryou smiled; this meant that the white-haired boy would be able to go to school today. He got out of bed to get dressed.

Aura rode the limo to school like she normally did, today was the first day she was able to go back to school since that night, her chest still hurt but it was manageable. Seto had just argued with her, refusing to go with her, though she wanted him to, at least she could see Yugi and the others. On top of that, she now carried a gun with her, in her bag, and the thought of that psycho brought a grin to her face.

Ryou skipped merrily to school. This was the first time in months that he was able to go and though he was extremely behind on his education, he was glad to be going at all.

Aura sighed stepping out of the limo and moved into the classroom. "Aura where have u been!" Yugi said as the group ran up to her.

"Working you know. Tell me has Ryou been to school since I've been gone?"

"No." He said and Aura's heart stopped now worried

Ryou frowned, moving his pace quicker. He didn't want to be late.

Aura frowned looking away. "Alright thanks."

It was then that Ryou walked in, his face slightly red from the cold weather outside.

Aura heard the door slide open and she glanced over smiling. "Ryou!" She moved over to him rather quickly hugging him.

The boy dropped his bag and hugged her back. "I didn't know you went here!" he announced happily.

She nodded "yea thanks to my fiancé I skip allot. I think we've had class together maybe once or twice. I was worried about you after...well...you know."

He paled suddenly and dropped his voice to a murmur. "Please don't speak about that here..."

She nodded, "yea ok." Then placed her wounded hand on his shoulder smiling, "Sit in Setos seat today beside me alright?"

He nodded slowly. "You and Kaiba... Are really close, right?" Ryou sat down.

"Yea we're engaged right now." She sat beside him "why?"

"Just curious," he replied, swinging his legs. "He doesn't seem very nice."

She couldn't help but laugh, "he's normally not but when we are home or around town he does have a sensitive side."

Ryou nodded. "I had a feeling..."

She smiled nodding, "Hey cheer up alright? How about come lunch time we skip and I take you out for some food?"

He nodded happily. "Sure!"

"Just think of a place u wanna go. Anywhere!" She said just as the teacher walked in

To be honest, Ryou almost never went out to eat. All class, he tried to think of a resturant, but come lunch time, he had no thoughts.

As they walked down the hall she called for her ride which was already waiting for them by the time they made it outside. "Where you wanna go?" She asked sitting in the car

He frowned and blushed. "I, uh..." Ryou mumbled something.

She giggled "it's alright what kind of food do you like?"

Ryou looked at her. "...Bread?"

Her mouth opened partly too shocked for words for a moment. "Um ok," She told the driver the destination and they took off

Ryou fiddled his thumbs, staring at the ground. "I'm sorry!" he blurted out a few minutes later.

"For what?" She asked confused

"For not coming up with a place to eat..." he mumbled.

"Petty. Don't worry about it. It's no problem." the car stopped and they walked inside until they were seated.

Ryou stared around the restaurant, his eyes wide. "Wow!"

She only smiled and never picked up her menu she already knew what she wanted. "Get absolutely whatever you want alright?"

He opened the menu, smiling. Even his modesty couldn't break through his dazed trance as he looked over the menu. "Wow... This is so much better than the stale bread I get at home..." he muttered to himself.

She only smiled for a moment. She wanted to offer him to stock his kitchen but with Bakura around...her thoughts trailed off as she frowned looking down at her bandaged hand

Ryou noticed her gaze and awkwardly cleared his throat. "S-Sorry about that..."

Shaking her head she looked up at him with a smile "just a scratch don't worry"

The white-haired boy wanted to tell her that he had watched the entire thing happen from his soul room, but didn't bother. Instead, he said, "What are you getting?"

"Buffalo chicken salad and some water. Have you decided?" She asked

"Well, I'm not quite sure what to get..." Ryou replied. "Maybe a steak."

"Good choice." She waived down the waiter who walked over. "How would you like it cooked?"

Ryou smiled, his eyes slightly darkened as he told the waiter, "Raw."

She narrowed her eyes on him placed her order and handed the menu off. "Raw huh?"

Ryou nodded. "Yup!" He swung his legs casually under the table.

She nodded with a smile sipping her water. "You know where Setos mansion is right?" She asked him gently

Ryou shook his head. "I've never been. Why?"

"I'll show you where it is after lunch that way you can come over whenever you want."

Ryou smiled politely. "That's not a very good idea, Aura. I'd prefer not to know."

She lost her smile thinking for a moment. "If he wants to find me let him. If he really wanted too he would it's not like I live very secretly anyway. Everyone knows where I live and work it's no secret."

The white-haired teen shook his head. "No, please. I'm fine, really!" he tried to convince her.

She scowled but nodded "Ryou I'm your friend and he isn't going to stop me. No stab or cut or even death. I promise you I'll do my best." She looked away from him

Ryou shivered, staring at the ground. I know you're strong enough to take it... Kind of... But, well-" he broke off, pulling at his long sleeved shirt awkwardly.

The food came out at that moment and she sighed. "Ryou don't worry about me. I'll do what I can I promise just relax for this moment in time and enjoy your food"

He nodded and looked at the meat. It was pink and completely covered in blood. In an almost animal-like style, he tore into it the meat.

Watched him nearly destroy the food and she casually ate hers. 'Bakura must've starved him' she thought.

When he was done eating, in five minutes flat, he started licking the plate. A pink tinge rose to his cheeks as he did so.

She stared at him a bit strange as she slowly took another bite. "Um..." She muttered to herself

Ryou put the plate down, blushing furiously. He didn't bother speaking to her as he took a sip of water.

She chuckled softly eating now. "More?" She asked.

Ryou was torn. Part of him screamed out for more food to stuff himself with, but the other part told him it was rude to keep begging, not to mention made him look weak. "I'm good, thanks."

"Ryou it's no problem. I wouldn't have offered it if it hindered me in anyway. Get more if you want more."

Ryou bit his lip. "No, I'm truly fine..."

She glanced over at the waiter and signaled for another plate "alright then if you're not hungry you can take it as a doggie bag."

He frowned, than nodded. "Thank you so much. I can pay you back..." He trailed off, reaching a hand into his backpack.

"Absolutely not." She said sternly "this is my treat."

Ryou's hand kept digging. "But I feel so bad just to take money without giving something in return. I mean, that's stealing!" The white-haired boy thought for a moment, then chuckled lightly at the irony of his statement.

She smiled "Ryou I make allot of money. My job pays well. This isn't stealing because I'm offering it. Just relax, this and any other time we go out is 100% my treat."

Ryou smiled brightly at her. "You're so nice to me, Aura!" He then frowned. "I only wish I had something to offer you..."

"You're friendship is all I need!" she smiled and realized how corny that must have sounded; she mentally kicked herself. Then the waiter returned with his plate.

Ryou, against his thoughts, will, and better judgment, dug right into it. He ate so quickly that he hardly noticed what was on the plate at all.

She giggled watching him then without him noticing ordered another plate; she slowly finished off her salad. /That poor guy,/ she thought watching him /I didn't think it was that bad but.../

When Ryou finished, he blushed once more and wiped his mouth delicately. "I, um..."

She rose her hand stopping him, "don't worry, eat your fill," her phone went off and she grumbled looking at it. "Hold on, I have to take this." she stood and left the table heading to the bathroom.

Ryou frowned and watched her leave. "I wonder what's up..." He rooted through his backpack, pulled out an extremely valuable ring from one of Bakura's thieving missions, and slipped it into hers. 'She may not want it, but I'll feel bad otherwise...'

She came back only a moment later still on the phone, "no, no, I'm fine, really. Alright I promise. No, I promise, really plus Roland has been following me secretly, though I can plainly see him, he's never been good at hiding. I'll see you later tonight, bye." she hung up sitting down shaking her head, "he's so overprotective," she grumbled sipping her water. Just as a third plate came out for Ryou.

Ryou was nodding at her when it came. "Really? A third plate? You don't have to do that!" he told her, eyeing it hungrily.

"You're hungry, and I'll see to it you'll leave here stuffed even if it take a hundred plates." she laughed slipping her phone into her bag. "I mean it, eat your fill I won't take no for an answer got that."

With that, Ryou was stuffing his face once more. He tried to be polite, but this was the best-and only-meal he had gotten in a long time.

"Be honest with me, or I'm gonna order you more anyway, do you want another plate or would you like to try something else on the menu?" she asked with a smile resting back into the seat, "or would you like to go do something else?"

Ryou looked up, blushing madly. He downed three plates of food, and using no manners too! "We can go somewhere else," he told her.

She chuckled but nodded, "alright anything in particular?" she said to him as the waiter walked by dropping off the check.

"Well, we could go to the-" He frowned, mentally chastising himself. "Where do you want to go?" he asked, trying to be polite.

"Wherever you want to go, where were you going to suggest?" she laughed paying and signing the receipt. "Stop being so modest, alright, you're not going to offend me in anyway, I *live* with the most egotistical jerk in the world, there's nothing you can do to top him." she said with another laugh.

Ryou laughed uneasily. "Well, I thought we could go to the arcade. I think it's a place where you play games, but I'm not sure. I've only heard of it..."

She nodded with a smile, "yea, I love that place, Tea and I go there, she loves that dance machine. There's also a duel arena in the back. Sounds like a plan!" she smiled brightly, "whenever you're ready to go, we'll go."

Ryou stood, excited. "I never realized one was real!" he said happily. "Let's go!"

She nodded with a smile and walked out with him back towards the limo which was already waiting there. "to the Domino Arcade." she told the driver who nodded.

Ryou stared out the window, his eyes unblinking as they sped.

She watched him out of the corner of his eyes and frowned softly /I feel bad, but other than this, there's nothing I can do for him, until defeated, Bakura will always torture him./ she thought

Ryou swung his legs and started humming a tune. His face was scrunched in a grin as he pressed his nose against the window.

For the first time in her life, she felt useless and sighed closing her eyes. /There's nothing I can do for him/ she thought as the limo came to a halt and the driver opened the door for them.

Ryou bounded out and raced inside without a single glance back. He did, however, yell out, "Come on, Aura!"

She couldn't help but laugh as she moved inside following after him. "Hold on, I have to get coins," she said with a giggle and moved to the coin machine doing so.

Ryou followed her, watching the crowded area in awe.

She turned handing him a large handful of coins, "there's more if you run out, but have fun, alright?" she smiled at him.

He nodded, and ran straight to the dueling area, dragging her along. "Come on!"

She nodded and followed after him.

On their way over, Ryou stopped at one of the machines, the DDR game. "Is this the one Tea liked?" he asked her.

Aura paused and looked over then nodded. "Yep."

"Can you play it too?" he asked innocently.

She blushed "I can but I'm nowhere near as good as she is."

He shrugged, his mind set up. "I want to try it then!"

She nodded with a smile, "then go on!"

He got onto the machine and, after a few minutes to read the directions, got to a page that allowed him to choose a song and difficulty. "What song?"

"Umm..." she glanced at the last reading each one quickly, then pointed at one, "that's a great beginner song."

The white-haired boy frowned. "But that's so easy! Come on, I want to try it on expert!" He laughed, though looked serious.

"Alright then," she looked at the list, "here's a really difficult one." she pointed at another

He didn't recognize any songs, but nodded. "Do you want to do it?"

"Uh...no, no, go ahead, I'm really no good at it." she laughed

Ryou took her hand and dragged her to the player two controller. "Come on, it won't be fun by myself! Please?"

She laughed again but nodded, "alright, just don't laugh." she removed the jacket of her school uniform and slung it on the bar of the machine.

He smiled, then prepared himself.

The song started and she began moving to the beat, hitting notes at an average rate, but dancing along with it with a smile on her face.

Ryou moved quickly, hardly even noticing the music as his feet moved to each arrow. He was vaguely aware of Aura's smile and that too made him grin.

She started getting into the song, swinging more with the beat and even allowed a soft chuckle when she missed a note.

When the song finished, Ryou had a thin stream of sweat dripping from his forehead. He sighed in relief, having not noticed his score the entire time.

Aura stretched when it ended and smiled, "look you did even better than me!" she laughed walking off the platform. "I'm thirsty now, you want something to drink?" she asked grabbing her jacket and heading towards a vending machine

The boy laughed. "I thought you did a good job," he told her. "And sure, I wouldn't mind a drink."

She only smiled before grabbing a bottle of water, "what would you like, there's soda, water, some tea."

Ryou's eyes went wide. "There's tea!"

"Not warm tea, but yea there's um..." she looked at them, "green tea, blackberry tea, raspberry tea, and sweet tea."

"I'll have some raspberry tea if that's okay," Ryou told her.

"Of course it is!" she put the money in and got the drink then handed it to him. "Now what?" she asked glancing around the arcade, luckily since everyone was still in school it was pretty empty, so most all of the games were open.

Ryou shrugged, sipping his tea. "I just picked one, so now you pick one."

"I don't really play that many arcade games," she muttered looking around, "don't normally have time." her eyes caught a game in particular "how about a zombie shooting game?"

'Doesn't have time? I wonder why she's so busy...' Ryou nodded. "Sure, sounds fun."

"Ok, come on." she led him across the arcade to a smaller machine with two plastic guns on it and handed him one. "Pretty simple game, shoot at the zombies, not at the civilians, and shoot off screen to reload. Got it?" she asked starting the game up.

The white-haired boy blinked for a moment before nodding. "Got it!" He shifted hands with the toy gun as he waited for the game to start up.

If she could say she wasted any of her life on anything, it was shooting games, she was good at point and shoot, then nailing her target. The game started and she went into shooting mode, nailing most everything that walked between the eyes. A sudden sternness on her face as her thoughts began to wander from the game.

Ryou, on the other hand, was god awful. He missed almost every shot and even managed to glitch the game and shoot himself a few times. He watched her face, wondering what was on her mind before getting back to the game.

Nearing the end of the first level her gun lowered a bit. /If I shoot him.../ she thought her glance shifting from the machine for a moment. She quickly shook off the feeling and looked back at the game with a smile shooting more until the level ended.

'It seems almost as if something's troubling her...' Ryou, now not focusing at all, died in the game.

"Silly," she giggled looking at him, "stay focused, look over there, see these pots? shoot them, sometimes they hide medical packs to reboost your health."

"Oh, okay..." He tried shooting at them and, after several missed shots, gained another life. "Thanks!"

"Practice makes perfect," she said then turned her attention back to the game.

"I thought you said you didn't come here often," he replied, focusing on the game.

"I don't," she said, "as a kid I did, but if you can shoot in real life games like these are pretty easy."

"Who would you be shooting?" he asked, nervous now. 'Certainly she's not... Not like Bakura, is she?'

Her gun lowered slightly as she realized what she said, "I grew up in a wealthy family, we were always attacked, when I became old enough my father sent me for hand-to-hand training and weapon training. I promise you I'm no criminal. Now, being with Seto, even he's worried something might happen when I'm out in town, she we keep up to date with practicing. That's all."

He nodded. "But who would want to hurt you? You're so nice!" he said naively.

/Allot of people/ she thought and glanced over her shoulder, Roland had still been following them. "I don't know," she said looking at him. "Let's play something else, alright? Your turn."

He nodded. "Sure!" Looking around, he spotted a skee ball station and pointed there. "How about that?"

She nodded and walked over with him to the machine, this time not wanting to play, only wanting to watch him.

Ryou shoved a few coins in and grabbed a ball. He was about to roll it when he paused, staring deeply into the two corners that read '100'.

"You gotta get the balls in those spots to get the highest score you can." she said sipping on her water.

Ryou nodded, his eyes narrowing on his target. 'I know..." he mumbled, taking aim. He shot the first one, shooting it straight into the '100' hoop. Ryou then grabbed the rest in an almost robotic way and shot every single one into the same hoop.

"Wow, you're pretty good at that!" she said, "you keep that up, you'll be able to get whatever prize you want!" she said as tickets came out of the machine.

Ryou blinked, then watched as ticket after ticket came pouring out of the machine. 'Strange, I don't...' He sighed, then smiled again. "Cool!"

She chuckled, "again?" she asked at him.

"No, I want to see you try!" he told her, smiling. His eyes seemed to grow a tad darker as he spoke.

She nodded and put money in stepping up, "I really have no coordination for this." she rolled the first ball and is landed in the 25 point zone, "see." she picked up another

Suddenly, her arm was grabbed and bent behind her back so roughly that a sickening crack was heard. "Hello, bitch," a cold, unforgiving voice whispered in her ear. A knife was plunged right next to her throat.

She twisted in pain and made a muffled growl, she felt the cold metal by her throat and remained still, "A Hello to you, and here I wondered how long it would take before you showed yourself."

"It's all in the timing," he told her pleasantly, thrusting the knife into her throat. He cackled softly.

Roland was there seconds later with a gun aimed at the back of Bakura's head. As Aura raised her free hand to the now gaping hole at the side of her neck.

Bakura glanced over at him in a bored way. He then turned his attention back to Aura. "A henchman, huh? Cute."

Aura opened her mouth to talk but found it hard. /damn it/ she thought and swiftly kicked backwards nailing him where the sun don't shine. Even she felt bad for doing it, but she was losing allot of blood and she needed to get away.

Bakura grunted, his hold loosening on her. On his way falling backwards, he managed to slice most of her shirt off and smack his head on the arcade game.

She didn't want to leave, she wanted to stay for Ryou, but she stumbled towards Roland and grabbed his wrist moving away as fast as she could, Roland covered her up in his jacket as they moved towards the limo. "Se-to..." she got out in a gasp.

Bakura stood, slightly dizzy from his fall. Glaring, he lunged at her again, knife gripped tightly.

Another guard stepped in the way of the lunge grabbing him as Aura was pushed into the limo by Roland, she fumbled for the gun in her bag and drew it out turning to find Roland getting into the car. "To the hospital and fast," he ordered and looked over at me, "I'll call Mr. Kaiba, don't worry."

Bakura bit the other guard's arm hard enough to draw blood. His elongated fangs helped him accomplish this task easily.

The guard yelled and drew out his gun, firing it into Bakuras shoulder. Roland called Seto like he said he would but Aura's vision began fading in and out /this can't be how I die/ she thought

He winced, biting his lip hard enough to draw blood, but didn't scream. "You..." A glow suddenly lit the arcade, but it was much different from the glow before. It seemed to radiate dark energy itself.

"Go..." she managed to get out at the driver who shot off down the street. The Guard took a step back away shielding his face from the light

In a second, the guard was simply gone with a small puff of smoke, never to be seen again. Or, at least until Bakura wanted him back. The white-haired man growled low in his throat, leaving the arcade.


	4. Chapter 4

When Aura could see straight again she found herself lying back in a hospital bed, with Roland by the bedside. She attempted to speak but found she couldn't without pain. "The doctors said the knife ripped through your vocal chords, they repaired it but it's going to be a while before it heals." he said and Aura let out a grunt looking down.

Meanwhile, Bakura had gone back home after yet another successful thieving mission. He sat with a notepad in hand, sketching.

She grabbed a piece of paper and noted something down showing it to Roland who responded, "Mr. Kaiba left just a moment ago to talk to the doctor, he should be back shortly."

Bakura continued sketching, mumbling angrily to himself. "If that damn girl keeps hiding behind her guards, I'll never kill her..."

Aura looked away nodding and touched her neck lightly feeling the bandages there. The door opened and she glanced up watching Seto walk into the room, his normal pissed off expression. She scribbled down on a piece of paper, 'I know, you warned me to stay away from him, this is my fault.' then showed it to him.

Bakura scrunched his eyes closed, a headache forming. "Damn girl... I will get her..."

He only grumbled pushing the notepad away, "I don't care where you go, school or work, there will always be a guard with you, is that clear?" he growled and she nodded. "Let's get you home." she stood from the bed and followed him out. 

Ryou woke up and stared at his bed, his head killing him. "Wha...? Wasn't I in the..." He shook his head, tears in his eyes. "No, he didn't..."

Sighing, Aura slipped on her shirt, looking at the scar across her chest and scowled. Then her eyes met the bandages on her neck and a frown appeared. "You don't plan on going to school do you?" Seto asked and she smiled nodding, "that's probably not a good idea." scribbling something down on a piece of paper she handed it to him. "Fine, but you're not leaving my sight, got that?" she nodded and they left the mansion.

Ryou dressed for school, tears still stinging his eyes. "That's it... I'm not going near her! It's the only way..." He opened his hand, staring once again at a very vivid, detailed picture of Aura being mutilated. He had been holding it when he awoke and assumed Bakura was involved.

Once in class, she sat at her seat and was surrounded by Yugi and his gang questioning the bandage around her neck but she only smiled gently at them. Joey, being Joey assumed it was Seto and began yelling at him like he normally did, but Seto had no intention of paying any attention to him. Slowly, she glanced over to Ryou's empty desk and frowned.

Ryou was stalling his way to school, not wanting to see Aura. He knew he would continue feeling guilty if he saw her and frowned at the very thought. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he walked into the room and sat in the back right corner of the class, as far away from Yugi and the gang as humanly possible.

Aura glanced over as Ryou walked in and she noticed he avoided her, which she didn't blame him for. Taking out a piece of paper she scribbled a note down to the effect of, 'smile, be happy, it's not your fault and you're still my best friend' then stood walking over to his desk placing it down for him with a large, confident smile

Ryou stared at the floor, a paper gripped tightly in his hand. He read her paper, and then felt tears sting his eyes once more as he looked up at her. "No, I'm not risking it anymore..."

Taking the paper, she turned it around and wrote, ' I'm not really giving you a choice in the matter. My safety is my own concern. I made a promise to you that I intend on keeping.'

Shivering, Ryou handed her a slip of paper. It was torn slightly and had speckles of dried blood on the outside of it. "No, Aura."

Confused, she took it, looking at it.

"Just please go away..." He whispered. "Before anything else happens..."

She looked at the picture, and gasped softly, /how did he.../ she thought and looked down at him. "Bakura," she said though it hurt to do so and placed a hand on his shoulder. "He doesn't scare me." she said in a low, cracking voice.

"But he hurt you!" Ryou exclaimed, and then dropped his voice so as to not draw attention to everyone else. "I won't let you near me, Aura. He'll only k-kill you..."

"It doesn't..." she stopped talking, pain shooting through her neck. She let it settle for a moment, "it doesn't matter, you're my friend, my best friend." she hesitated for a moment then decided to pull him into a hug. Seto, now standing, watched carefully.

Ryou was shocked. Bakura had almost killed her, and here she was hugging him. He bit his lip, trying not to grow emotional as he hugged her back.

She pulled away after a moment and ruffled his hair, "silly." she said out of the blue. Then on a piece of paper she wrote, "I don't break my promises, you're my friend and he won't kill me." then handed it to him before moving towards her desk. /He can sure as hell try/ she thought

Ryou bit his lip, wishing she hadn't written that. It was in the form of a challenge and Bakura would never deny a challenge. 'Oh my... This is not going to be easy...'

Aura let out a sigh, rubbing her neck, the talking was destroying her, but it was worth it for him. She smiled softly and Seto grumbled softly sitting down as well. /Well worth it,/ she thought

As the lesson went on, Ryou grew more and more uncomfortable. That was mostly because Bakura was wandering the room in his spirit form, the form only Ryou could see. He stopped next to Aura, glaring.

Aura sat there, bored barely paying attention to the lesson and felt cold suddenly shivering. Raising a hand to her throat again she sat upright looking at the desk /strange/ she thought

Bakura laughed, though the noise only sent chills down Ryou's back. 'No,' he mouthed, and Bakura only narrowed his eyes at Ryou before rubbing his ghostly fingers along Aura's injured neck.

Aura shivered again closing her eyes, it felt as if something brushed over her neck and she grunted softly, /what's going on?/ she thought

Ryou frowned, gripping his desk to keep from shouting at Bakura. 'Please, just stop it!' he thought desperately to no avail. Bakura leaned down and blew on the back of her neck, the very sight giving Ryou chills.

Aura felt something crawl down her spine and she stood suddenly knocking the chair back, the whole class turned towards her. "Everything alright?" the teacher asked and Aura nodded, bowing she looked down wanting to run out of the room. Bowing again she touched her neck and moved out of the room.

Bakura burst out laughing as Ryou shivered, frowning. 'Happy?' he asked angrily, but instantly regretted it. Ryou rose his hand and said in a quiet voice. "May I be excused, teacher?"

Seto hissed under his throat watching her leave the room, but became even more irritated when Ryou asked to leave as well.

Once outside, Ryou walked briskly to a corner of the hallway and sat down, his back against the wall. "No... Please..." He shut his eyes tightly, a pain washing over him in waves.

Aura stopped in the nurses office wrote down that she was getting random shivers and just needed warmth so she sat on one of the beds with a blanket over her and grumbled pulling out her cell phone, sending a text to Seto.

Ryou wandered to the nurse a few minutes later. More like stumbled as Bakura continued trying to trip him.

Her eyes shifted towards the door as Ryou walked in and she narrowed her eyes on him, pulling the phone under the blanket, hidden as she did. "Are...alright?" she got out in a cracked gasp

Ryou stumbled, nodding his head slightly. "Just a few... Scratches," he told her, covering his arms. Blood dripped down from them in large streams.

She stood moving towards him, "scratches?" she grunted and pulled him towards the bed, and looked around for the nurse, turning to leave. "Hold on." she said

Ryou nodded, frowning. 'As long as she doesn't piece anything together...'

She returned with the nurse moment later and sat beside him, separated a bit as the nurse began cleaning and wrapping his wounds. /I wonder.../ she thought

Ryou twitched as she cleaned his arms. They were incredibly deep and looked almost like claw marks or knife marks. Ryou closed his eyes as she worked.

"Ryou..." she whispered, unaware she even said his name. Her thoughts were running miles a minute and she placed a consoling hand on his shoulder, and then lowered her head so he couldn't see her face.

Ryou looked over at her. "What's up?" he murmured, confused.

She pulled her hand away and stood moving away from him, then crossed her arms. /I was so stupid, so naive, this is my fault/ she thought

Ryou frowned, crossing his arms as well. "What?" he asked again/

Turning she shook her head noting a 'never mind' before looking at the nurse as she left the room. Her eyes shifted to the blanket where she could see her phone was still sitting and reached for it, grabbing it. Noting not to get too close to him, /am I really afraid?/ she thought

The white-haired boy bit his lip, then hesitantly sat next to her.

She sighed pulling the blanket back around her shoulders, feeling cold again and looked at her phone, a missed text from Seto. 'I'm fine, just not feeling well.' she text back to him

Ryou nodded slowly, moving away and sitting in the bed across from her.

Finding it difficult to speak she wrote on her phone, 'how did that happen?' than showed it to him.

"How did what?" he asked nervously.

'Those wounds on your arm, they're self-inflicted. Not just scratches.' she typed and showed it to him

Ryou bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. "I d-don't know w-what you m-mean..."

'Relax, I'm not accusing you of anything. Did *he* do that to you?' she typed and showed him after grabbing a tissue and wiping the blood off his lip

Ryou couldn't respond, his face paler than usual. Bakura hovered next to him, glaring at him darkly. "N-No... I t-tripped..." he muttered quietly.

She stared at him hard for a moment then typed, 'I don't believe you. You don't have to say it, fine, but I know he did it to you.'

Ryou shook his head. "He didn't!" he said, staring into Bakura's narrowed slits as he spoke.

"Liar," she said in defiant growl, although the crack in her voice made it dis-believable. She thought for a moment, and then typed, 'he's watching you, isn't he?'

Ryou's already pale face paled even more, impossibly. He couldn't speak as Bakura's eyes narrowed even more.

She nodded pulling the cell phone away and closing it, slowly she stood and turned towards Ryou, unsure of what to say. She wanted to aggravate the spirit saying something but at the same time she didn't want to end up in the hospital again, and with the nurse not but a couple yards away she didn't want to get her involved. Instead, she just watched Ryou stare off into space, then she realized he wasn't just staring into space, he was staring *at* something.

Ryou shivered, his nails digging into his knees. 'Please don't do anything rash...' Bakura only laughed. 'And if I do?'

She eased slightly taking a deep breath and took Ryou's hand standing then dragging him from the room, down the long halls until they made it to the rooftop, where they were alone. Standing upright she walked a couple steps from Ryou facing him with a stern, confident face.

Ryou bit his lip, looking at her. "Why are we here?" he asked fearfully.

She took a deep breath and from within her jacket pulled out her gun, then paused glancing at it, keeping her head down.

Ryou's eyes widened. He started backing away, his eyes watering slightly. 'Holy crap...'

"It's not for you," she said not looking at him and the clip slipped out into her hand. "It's not for me." she muttered.

Ryou screamed bloody murder then, his eyes wide in fear. Sweat ran down his face. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

She didn't move, she didn't flinch, not for a moment until she threw the clip of the gun one way, and the gun the opposite, it slid across the ground coming to a stop. She kept in mind the small knife she had hidden on her back.

Ryou stared at it. "I... D-Don't get it..."

She only stood there, with her head down, for a moment before looking up at him with firm eyes, "did he do that to you?" she said firmly.

Ryou shivered. "S-Stop this... you're s-scaring me, Aura..."

She eased slightly taking a deep breath, "Ryou, answer my question." she said lightly

He shook his head rapidly, gripping his hair tightly. "DON'T MAKE ME ANSWER!" he screamed. "I... ARRRAGGGHH!" he screamed out in frustration. Bakura glared at him darkly.

"That's all I needed to know," she said softly and moved up to him wrapping her arms around him holding him tight against her.

Ryou pushed her away, frowning. From his pocket, he produced a pocket knife that he held with shaking arms. "STAY BACK!" he yelled. "I-I'm armed!"

She eyed him for a moment, still with a smile and took a step forward very slowly and very gently resting her hand on his trembling hands.

Ryou felt tears sting his eyes as a thin stream fell. "Please..." he said to both Aura and Bakura.

She ignored him, and slowly lowered his arms. /I have too,/ she thought, /for him/ "Relax," she said softly.

He only tensed as Bakura glared deeply. Suddenly, he was yanked backwards, almost off the roof.

She only stood there for a moment and sighed shutting her eyes, "I know about you Bakura, a tomb raider from the Pharaohs ancient past. I also know that you weren't always this violent in your past"

Ryou froze as his eyes drifted to Bakura. He looked at Aura with mild interest. Ryou paused for a moment before. "How...?"

She didn't answer at first, she couldn't her throat would comply. Pulling out her cell phone she typed in something as she moved towards him, then turned it towards him. 'We were friends, then enemies, in the past. I saved his life once back then and then hunted him down on orders from the Pharaoh.'

Ryou stared at the phone, disbelieving. 'It's true.' Bakura broke the silence to Ryou and the boy jumped. 'That was long ago though... I don't care. She will die, nothing more, nothing less.' The white-haired boy frowned at Aura.

She typed and pointed it back at him, "I caused him alot of pain then, just like I am doing you now. It's only fair I let him do what he's wanted to do.' /even if I don't want him too/ she thought.

Confused, Ryou stared at her as Bakura nodded slowly.

"But," she managed to mutter. "I find it pathetic he hides in a patsy knowing I can't hurt him." she stood and picked up the gun then the clip slipping it back together. Then spinning it around eyeing him.

Ryou sat down, his breathing hard. 'I hate this...' He thought. 'Knowing nothing, and having people only care about Bakura. It's always like this... I don't even exist.' However, Bakura didn't speak.

She stopped and looked at him, "Don't mistake," she muttered, "you're still my best friend and I still care for you, deeply." her phone buzzed and she looked at it, but ignored it.

Ryou stood, his eyes sad. "It's like this so often. Everyone... Just wants me gone..." He started walking to the edge of the roof. "They want me gone... Gone..."

With a growl she moved forward quickly to grab his collar. "Don't!" she yelled feeling a very sharp writhing pain shoot through her neck.

Ryou turned to her, eyes empty. "Everyone wants me to. I have to." He slapped her hand away. 'My whole life, it's always been sister, mother, my friends too scared to even look at me after...'

"Baka," she said her voice cracking worse than before, and it was obivous it pained her to speak. Moving towards him she pulled him from the roof edge and hugging him, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. "Stop saying such nonsense," she said barely above a whisper

Ryou laid his head on her shoulder, his face wet with tears. "Everyone wants me gone... Even you do. You will soon."

"No, I don't, I won't." she said holding him tight against her. /ever,/ she thought closing her eyes knowing that she was in danger being like this but it didn't bother her

Ryou hugged her back, tears streaming down his face so much that he could hardly see. "It's not safe though..."

She didn't say anything, only held him even closer. Nearly forgetting the gun was still in her hand.

Ryou shivered, his hand being pushed up to the gun. Without thinking, he slapped it out of her hand and it sailed down and off the roof.

She grit her teeth but didn't move away from him. /damn it.../ she thought but consoling him was more important

Ryou continued hugging her. "You tensed," he told her in a quiet, disappointed voice. "I'm a plague..."

She shook her head and smiled, "it wasn't you."

"No... It was me... It is me..." he muttered, still not breaking the embrace.

"Stop; it's-" her voice cracked and she had to cough to clear her throat, "not." she finished dropping her head and placing another gently kiss on his cheek.

Ryou pulled her in tighter, frowned as he buried his head into her shoulder. "Aura..."

She remained silent keeping her arms tight around him, closing her eyes.

"You're a stupid whore." Bakura shoved her back, grinning madly. Then, laughing demonically as he did so, he shoved her off the roof.


	5. Chapter 5

As Aura fell, there was only a brief second of two before she hit the bushes below, she smiled. /At least for that brief moment he was happy/ she thought and hit. Shutting her eyes, she still smiled, there was definitely broken bones covering her body but it didn't matter.

But it wasn't over. A loud thud landed beside her and Bakura stood over her, grinning madly.

Her eyes opened and glanced over to see him standing there and still smiled shutting her eyes. /Oh well...not much I can do now./ she thought and felt something under her hand, something cold. /the gun./

Bakura took Ryou's pocket knife, smirking widely. "I will kill you and be rid of you," he said lowly.

Her smile only grew as she laid there, and allowed a soft chuckle to escape. Words wouldn't form her throat wouldn't work right.

"Something funny about dying?" he asked her, poising the knife above her chest.

"Naive," she muttered and clicked the gun, it was pointed directly at him. "how about another bullet in that shoulder?" she growled.

Bakura threw his head back to laugh, then held the gun up to his skull. "Sure, go head. Go blow Ryou's head off. Go on, I dare you!" He cackled darkly.

She grinned, "not kill you." she muttered and coughed, blood touched her lips. /stupid, obviously I don't want to kill him, the resulting sound would draw too much attention, it would wound him and he wouldn't succeed in killing me/

He put the knife to her lips. "Then what are you expecting?"

Her eyes opened looking into his without saying a thing she licked the blade grinning. "baka," her voice cracked painfully.

"Insulting me won't prolong your death," he said simply, cutting her lips slowly.

"not...intention." she smiled and moved the gun so it was pointed directly at the sky then let off one, single shot, which echoed loudly.

Bakura's eyes widened as he suddenly understood her plan. "FUCK!" He lifted her up and slammed her against a wall angrily.

She grunted closing her eyes, "problems?" she coughed, the gun falling to the ground.

"You damn-" He broke off, grunting. "This isn't over, bitch. As long as you're near Ryou, I'll be there to kill you. Every day, every minute, I'm here for your head." He dropped her and raced away.

"I look forward to it." she muttered as she slumped against the wall and just as he left the courtyard was alive with students and teachers. "Over here!" someone shouted and she shook her head. /Bakura zero, me, three/

Bakura slumped in his house, groaning. "How could I have missed that? I was so close, so very close... If I had had a better knife, she would have no chance of survival..."

Aura woke up in the hospital later that night sighing, "Again?" she muttered forgetting what happened. "Oh, right, Bakura," slowly she sat upright, her left hand was covered in a cast and she could feel stitches on the back of her head, other than that it seemed the bushes took the brunt of the fall, luckily.

It had been a few hours since the attack and Ryou was out in the waiting room. As per usual, he felt horrible for what had happened and wanted to see her at the very least. He just hoped Kaiba wasn't there.

Slowly, and painfully, She attempted to move from the bed and found her body wouldn't fully comply yet and she was dizzy. "You shouldn't move much," Mokuba said and she sighed. "I know, but I hate hospitals. Where's your brother?"

"Out, he should be back any moment." 

Ryou twiddled his thumbs, debating whether to go in or not. He wanted to, but at the same time...

"Like I'm gonna lay here anyway," she sighed forcing her legs off the side of the bed. Mokuba wanted to argue but didn't, instead he moved to the bedside ready to help is she needed it

Ryou stood, finally making up his mind.

Kaiba walked through the hall and paused narrowing his eyes on the white-haired boy she had last been seen with. "What are you doing here?" he asked with a hiss.

Ryou jumped at the sight of Kaiba. "Oh, Kaiba!" he said, startled. "Hi..."

"I hate repeating myself," he growled. "What are you doing here?" he asked again.

Ryou shuddered slightly. "I was just... Just leaving..."

"Obviously you came here for a reason." he said standing in the door way, "You were the last person seen with her, and for some reason I can't see you being the one who hurt her. So you better start talking before I lose my patience."

Aura sighed finally making it to her feet then glanced at the door, "it's sure taking Seto a long time to get here. Maybe we should go check on him." she said and Mokuba nodded slightly.

Ryou stared at the floor, biting his lip. "I don't know what happened..." he mumbled almost silently.

He narrowed his eyes on the smaller boy and reached for him grabbing the collar of his jacket, "you better start talking."

Aura and Mokuba made it into the hallway and she sighed taking a deep breath. "did you hear that?" Mokuba asked, "sounds like someone's yelling." she looked around. "It kinda sounded like..." he trailed off and Aura growled moving forward.

Ryou whimpered, tears forming in his eyes. However, he continued to lie as he said, "I don't know!"

Seto growled violently, "Listen you little-" he was cut off when his name was yelled in the little waiting room.

"Put him down!" She said moving over towards them. "He had nothing to do with this, I swear to you. He's a concerned friend, that's why he's here, you need to relax." she said and Seto backed away shoving a hand in his pocket. Then turning towards Ryou she smiled hugging him. "Sorry," she said softly. "Thanks for coming to see me, it means allot."

Ryou stared at the floor and nodded his head slightly. "Yeah..."

She smiled ruffling his hair lightly, "hey, it's alright, ignore Seto, I know he's a bit of a jerk, and he's way overprotective."

Ryou nodded again. "I'm just glad you're okay..." he trailed off.

"Just fine, minor scratches nothing serious." she smiled brightly, "and hey I got the gift you left me in my bag. I don't know if he's around or not so I'll keep it hidden but thanks, it means allot."

Ryou looked her in the eyes and grinned. "I thought you'd like it..." he told her.

"I do, thanks, I wear it on my necklace all the time." she said touching the base of her neck lightly.

The very mention of the word 'necklace' made Ryou stiffen for a moment before relaxing. "It's pretty."

She caught onto his movement and frowned slightly not knowing exactly what she did. "Are you two finished?" Seto growled, "she needs rest and I have a company to run."  
>"Shut it Seto, I'm perfectly alright, why don't you return to your company and I'll meet you there."<br>"Alone? Ha, that's not happening."

Ryou frowned, then took a deep breath before bursting out, "You can leave!" It took him a moment to realize how rude that sounded and he went red.

She looked over at him shocked. "You heard the pipsqueak, let's go." Seto said heading towards the entrance.  
>"Ryou," she said softly. "Are you going to be alright? I'm worried about you, you know."<p>

Ryou stared at the ground, trying to smile. "It's fine... After all, this is my life and I'm... Well, used to it now."

She smiled hugging him again, "you don't have to lie to me anymore you know. Let me give you a ride home, it looks like it's going to rain, and it's on the way."

"Thanks," he told her, following her. "Though the rain is nice sometimes... Very pretty!"

She nodded as they walked towards the Kaiba brothers, "yes but you'll catch a cold, and I don't want you getting sick." she chuckled as they walked out towards Kaibas limo, "by the way Seto, we're giving Ryou a ride home, it's on the way so I don't want to hear it." he growled under his breath but nodded getting in the car.

Ryou got in and edged to the corner of a seat to not take up very much room. He stayed quiet, eyes never leaving Kaiba.

She sat near Ryou smiling and watched him carefully, "Relax, he's all talk, he's not going to hurt you." she said and Kaiba huffed crossing his arms looking away.

Ryou laughed lightly, then mumbled, "I had a feeling..."

She smiled, "he puts up the whole I'm big bad act but in reality he's just a big teddy bear." she laughed and even Mokuba chuckled. Kaiba grit his teeth turning his head away.

Ryou laughed along with them, smiling happily. "Kaiba, don't frown!"

He looked over with his normal glare and Aura batted him away, "Relax Seto, learn to take a joke, you're such a stick stuck in mud you know." Mokuba laughed again. "She's so right!" he said.

Ryou continued smiling, though lessened his laughing as he glanced almost fearfully at Kaiba.

Aura bumped into Ryou lightly, "forget him, if you know anything about Kaiba he's like this all the time. Only fun you ever get out of him is when you pick on him, all he does is sit there and grunt."  
>"Says you." Kaiba said with a smirk and she growled looking at him.<br>"Shut up."

He giggled. "I suppose. That's all he does in class anyway."

She laughed again, "see, we're aren't the only ones that see it!" he shot her a glare, "oh cheer up Priest, you know I love you."  
>"I hate that name," he growled looking away.<br>"Psh," she looked over at Ryou, "he makes it so easy to pick on him you know."

"Priest?" Was all Ryou replied with, his eyes brows scrunched together in curiosity.

"Oh, yea, sorry. Remember when I told you that I knew *him* from the ancient past? Well Seto is the reincarnation of the Priest I was due to marry. A scared guardian of the Pharaoh."  
>"Not with these stories again," Seto growled<p>

Ryou gulped. "I... See."

"Are you alright?" she asked him gently. "I didn't say anything...wrong did I? He didn't say anything did he?" she was now worried

Ryou shook his head. "No, it's fine!" he told her, smiling. However, Bakura materialized next to him, glaring.

"Well, I'm sorry. It's not often I get to talk about the Priest." she smiled and sat comfortably in the seat doodling some hieroglyphs on her cast.

Ryou watched, interested. Bakura only rolled his eyes. "What does it say?" Ryou asked politely, though he already knew.

"Hmm? Oh um," she stopped and looked at it. "just a part of a protective spell I learned.

Ryou frowned. "I think you messed up on that one though." He pointed to a letter.

"Oh?" she muttered and handed him the pen, "here then, everything I write is just out of my memory from that time."

Ryou set to work. In a matter of seconds, he had an extremely introcate symbol drawn on the paper. He handed it back to her.

"Wow, impressive." she smiled, "you'll have to teach me more sometime!"

Ryou nodded, smiling shyly. "He has his perks..." He mumbled almost to himself.

She smiled though it was almost forced. She glanced away thinking, /I remember the inscription written above Diabounds soul tablet too/ she thought /when it was sealed away/ "hmm, diabound." she muttered unaware she even said anything at all.

Ryou took the paper back and started doodling on it, hating the awkwards silence that filled the car.

She watched him, and only glanced up to find Seto in his phone talking away about something, Mokuba was too busy looking out the window to care about anything else. "Do you two..." she stopped herself not wanting to bring him up in conversation, "sorry, never mind."

Ryou looked up from his drawing, covering it with a hand. "What?"

She giggled, "it looked good. Don't be ashamed of whatever you do." she smiled.  
>"Are we there yet?" Seto growled suddenly and she shot him a glare.<p>

Ryou moved his hand to reveal an almost accurate picture of Kaiba glaring. He flashed it to Kaiba, smiling.

Silence filled the limo for only a second before both Aura and Mokuba lost it laughing. Kaiba was too shocked for words and instead turned his head away gritting his teeth with a grunt.

Ryou smiled and tossed the paper to Kaiba. "All yours."

"If you even consider tearing that up, I'll make you regret it!" She said moving and sitting beside him taking the picture and looking at it. Turning towards Kaiba she looked at the picture than at him, then back at the picture, "It's so accurate!" she laughed and handed it off to Mokuba, "protect that, we're framing it." Mokuba nodded with a smile.

Ryou laughed. "I guess all that spare time drawing came in handy!" he joked.

Seto wanted to glare the kid down, but didn't only sat there with his arms and legs crossed. "Relax Seto," she bumped shoulders with him lightly, "it's not all that bad." she moved over sitting back beside Ryou, "say, wanna be the first to sign my cast?" she asked handing him a permanent marker.

Ryou grinned. "Would I!" He leaned down and started writing his name in slow, neat writing.

She smiled watching him, chuckling softly at his response. "Can I sign it too?" Mokuba asked and she nodded with smile.

When Ryou pulled back, the words 'Ryou' and 'Bakura' were printed on her cast.

Keeping her smile she handed Mokuba the marker and watched him as he signed it, reading what Ryou had put on the cast she kept her smile. /I wonder if he did that just to spite him? Or something else?/ she thought and Mokuba attempted to draw a little Blue Eyes under his name. She glanced up at Seto who just glared at her, "not even gonna bother asking you." she sighed.

Ryou leaned back folding his arms in his lap. He noticed where her gaze was originally and turned to her. "My full name is Ryou Bakura," he told her shyly.

She looked over losing her smile momentarily. "Oh," she muttered, "That's what I figured," she lied trying not to worry him with her thoughts.

Ryou nodded, his head down slightly. He leaned his head on her shoulder, not caring what Kaiba would say.

Seeing him slump she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close smiling, "cheer up! Your among friends, minus Kaiba cause he has no friends." she chuckled and Mokuba did too.

"I'd be Kaiba's friend," Ryou said behind their laughing.

"So would I, and Yugi and all this friends but Kaiba doesn't believe in friends, he thinks he's just fine the way he is! Hell, I'm engaged to the man and I'm hardly his friend." she said and Seto muttered something under his breath turning away.

Ryou nodded, glancing at Kaiba. He frowned, deep in thought.

"Don't let him get you down, ignore him, it's really all you can do when he's around." she chuckled and Mokuba nodded in agreement.

Ryou finally addressed Mokuba. "You're his brother, right?" He had never actually formally met the boy.

Mokuba nodded with a smile, "yep."

He stuck out his hand. "Ryou Bakura, nice to meet you."

He reached forward shaking his hand, "Mokuba Kaiba, nice to meet you. I've heard some really good things about you." he said after settling down in his seat.

Ryou smiled delicately. "As I to you," he replied. "Though I also heard you get kidnapped a lot...?"

Mokuba looked away, "yea...cause getting to Seto is hard they get to me instead."

Ryou frowned, wishing he hadn't spoken. "I also heard you're great at Capsule Monsters," he said to change the subject.

Mokuba perked up, "Yep, I'd say I'm pretty decent at it! Though I don't get much practice, Aura's never played and Seto refuses too."

"If I knew how, I'd love to play you sometime," Ryou said happily.

"Well, I'll teach you, it's not that hard." he smiled

Ryou nodded to him, then pointed outside. "There's my house..."he mumbled, shocked to see a broken window.

Aura caught his glance, "my fault sorry, I was kind of pissed at..." she trailed off looking at Seto, "your um, brother." she lied quickly. "I'll walk you to the door, come on."

The white-haired boy got out of the car, thanking the Kaiba brothers as he exited.

She followed him towards the door, "sorry about your window, I'll have someone fix it." she said not caring if he said no or not, she intended on fixing it

As she expected, Ryou shook his head. "No, please don't call attention to the house... I might be-" he broke off, not speaking.

She growled under her breath looking away, she didn't doubt Bakura would stoop low enough to harm Ryou for fixing the house. Even after he acted when she broke it, "alright," she said hesitantly.

Ryou spoke again, whispering. "I don't want to go to prison..." he muttered.

"Prison? Why would you?" she asked shocked, oblivious, again

Ryou stared at the floor. "B-Bakura has over two billion dollars worth of stolen objects and cash in this house..."

She placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled, "the contractors I have working for me are a group of people who won't say or do a thing without my permission. Hell they won't even breathe if I don't say it's okay."

He still shook his head. "Please, just let me handle it," he pleaded.

She bowed her head, "of course. If that's what you want."

Arms were suddenly flung around her waist. "Thanks..." he murmured.

She was shocked but hugged him back smiling, "anything for my dear friend."

"I still don't understand why you put up with me..." Ryou mumbled into her ear. "I'm nothing great, nor am I anything special and I hurt people. A lot. And steal and-" He didn't wish to continue.

She smiled, /the same reason I put up with your darker half/ she thought closing her eyes. "I care deeply for you, that's why and it's not you who does such things, not by your own will at least."

Ryou pushed her back slightly. 'Why can't I believe her then...?' He nodded to the car. "You'd better get going. Maybe..." He bit his lip. "You could come back over for dinner?"

She glanced over at the limo then back at him, "yea, that would be nice." she smiled knowing full well Bakura would make an appearance. "what time should I come by?"

"Six will be fine!" Ryou told her happily. "I'll make something great, just you wait!"

She nodded with a smile, "that would be great. I'll see you at six then." she waived him off then sat in the limo losing her smile.

Ryou, however, was overjoyed at the thought of having company for dinner. He raced into the house, grabbed some cash, then headed straight off to the store.


	6. Chapter 6

"What was that about?" Seto asked and she didn't answer. "You think it's smart to go back there?"  
>"He needs a friend."<br>"Enough so to put your own self in danger?" Seto asked looking over at her and she bowed her head, "I'll never understand you. You will, however, take guards with you." she only nodded and glanced out the window.

At a quarter to six, Ryou was humming happily in the kitchen. He had prepared a three course meal, hoping it wouldn't be too elaborate.

It was only a couple minutes before six when the limo pulled up in front of the house. "Our orders were-"  
>"I know what your orders were," she said abruptly, "but on the street it's my rule. You are all to stay outside, if you hear any commotion inside at all you can come inside, but do not kill him do I make myself clear?" they all bowed their heads and she stepped out of the limo taking a breath before walking up to the door, knocking on it<p>

Ryou jumped at the sound, then his face split into a grin. "Coming" he called, removing his apron and racing to open the door. When he did so, he grinned and invited her in.

She smiled at him walking inside, "whatever your cooking smells divine!" she said

A blush appeared on Ryou's cheeks. "Thanks!" He led her to the dining room where a particularly large salad was placed in the middle of the table.

Her smile grew as she sat down at the table, "wow," she said looking at the salad. "plan on a feast?" she joked.

He nodded, not getting her joking tone. "This is only course one," he told her, passing the bowl. "I hope you're hungry!"  
>'It's the first time I've ever been able to buy food without Bakura taking it away... He must be planning something...'<p>

She smiled taking the bowl and grabbing a small bowl before handing it back. She smiled brightly at him eating the salad, /I wonder how long it'll take tonight?/ she thought, shifting the bracelet on her wrist, one that Seto had given her before she left, with a small almost unnoticable button on it. /too cautious/

Ryou ate happily until a small beep came from the kitchen. "Oh, the rolls are ready!" The white-haired boy said and stood to grab them. "Be right back!"

She nodded with a smile and sat back in her chair. Her thoughts wandered for a moment as she was alone.

Ryou returned a minute later with a basket of rolls. "Want one?" he asked, offering them to her.

She nodded, "sure." she took one then munched down on it.

Ryou smiled and took one for himself. He munched it, smiling. "So, what's new?" he asked to make conversation.

"Nothing but some boring business deals, new software upgrade to the duel disks and such," she took a sip of her drink, "and yourself?" she asked

"Well, uh..." Ryou thought. "I did some drawing while I waited for the steaks to cook, but that's about it."

"Oh? More drawings? I'd love to see them if that's alright?" she asked

Ryou nodded. "Sure, why not?" He went to grab them.

She took another bite of her salad watching him rush off.

Ryou came back with a simple sketch book. Here's the one I just drew," he told her, opening to one of the backmost pages.

"Wow, that's beautiful!" she said looking at it, "such detail!"

"Thanks, but that was just a sketch," he told her. Ryou accidently bumped the sketch book and it fell to the ground, landing on a particularly frightening sketch.

.net/fs6/i/2005/097/8/e/Psycho_Bakura_by_

Aura's eyes fell on the pic and she picked up the sketch looking at it, "Ryou." she muttered softly looking up at him frowning softly.

Ryou scrambled to put it away, quickly slamming the page down so the picture was out of view. He stood and set the book on the table, taking another roll.

She looked away from him and the table in general; not sure of what to say what she could do to ease the tension.

Another loud ding sounded and Ryou stood soundlessly. Even his breathing seemed to be muted as he padded silently to the kitchen.

"Damn it," she cursed under her breath once she was alone and thought shutting her eyes.

A few noises were heard in the kitchen, then soft murmuring.

Looking over towards the kitchen she narrowed her eyes but didn't move, just listened as close as she could.

"I'm not doing it..." Ryou's almost silent voice was heard. A pause before, "No, please. Not today, just give me one day..."

Her glance shifted down /maybe I should leave/ she thought and she took a deep breath closing her eyes, still listening.

There was silence before, "I'll only agree if you promise..." After another minute, Ryou came out of the kitchen, smiling and holding two plates of steak. "I'm not sure how you like yours cooked, so I left them raw," he told her, setting a plate down.

She smiled brightly, though her thoughts were haunting her. "Meat's meat, as long as it's not black I can eat it."

He nodded, then sat in his seat to eat.

She looked at the steak, she had lost all of her appetite over what happened in the last couple of minutes but she cut off a piece and took a bite to be polite.

Ryou ate his happily meanwhile, chatting to her as if nothing had happened between them. "...And then I pulled out a coupon and got the steaks half off! Not that money's ever an issue, but still!"

She smiled laughing, trying to keep her thoughts to the back of her mind as she ate, "you know you're a really good artist, I'm looking for a lead artist in my company." she said taking another bite.

"I just like to draw, that's all," he told her. "I'd love to help you and the company!"

"That's all the job entitles, just art, and lots of it. Most of my team comes up with basic ideas, we just need someone to really draw it out. I know you said money isn't an issue, but it pays very decently." she took a sip of her water.

Ryou grinned. "I'd love to!"

"Alright, you can start whenever, just call over to Industrial Illusions and speak with my secretary, she'll get you all set up." She smiled brightly again, her thoughts nagging her about whatever Ryou had said in the kitchen, she wanted to ask but didn't want to spoil the mood.

He chuckled. "I'm so excited, it's just... Wow, a job!" Ryou grinned.

She nodded, "yep, you'll have your own office too and if anyone gives you any lip let me know and I'll set them straight." she laughed

"Wow... This is so exciting..." Ryou ate his steak. "Why type of drawing am I expected to do?"

"Well, duel monsters of course, the new designs for cards as they are developed. If successful your art will be apart of the game." she chuckled

Ryou's eyes widened, a nervous look passing his eyes for a moment. "O-Oh, for duel monsters... Cool." He bit his lower lip.

She lost her smile, "why? is there something wrong with that?" she set her fork down

He shook his head. "Of course not!"

She didn't believe him but knew it was going to be pointless to try and drag it out of him, "you don't have to lie to me you know. You're not going to offend me in anyway."

"I already have an idea for one, actually. I colored it a month ago or so and thought it's be cool..." Ryou told her.

Aura perked, "Oh?" she asked, "you'll have to show it to me! Later of course, after dinner." she smiled taking another bite finishing off her steak.

Ryou nodded, finishing his steak and taking yet another roll to eat.

"Then I look forward to it." she smiled setting the fork and knife on the plate. "This was great by the way. I'll have to cook for you one day. Though I'm not as good," she laughed

"You should stop being so modest, I'm sure you're fine!" Ryou told her. "Are you done?"

She nodded with a smile, "Really, I hardly cook, I can't see how I'll be any good."

He stood and collected her plate. "I could always teach you, you know. It's easy! My mom used to do it and teach my sister before-" He broke off, choking slightly. "I'll get the final course ready..." he muttered, leaving the room.

Aura frowned watching him leave /before what?/ she thought watching the door way /don't tell me he.../ her thoughts trailed off and she tightened a fist /bastard/

Ryou came out, a tight smile plastered on his face. He help a particularly large chocolate cake with several layers and a thin, neat frosting job.

She smiled relaxing, "that looks wonderful!"

He nodded, setting it down before her. "I hope you enjoy," Ryou said, handing her a knife to cut it with.

Cuts a piece placing a piece on her plate, "should I cut yours too?" she asked with a smile, in reality she was a bit worried handing him such a big knife. Bakura always said he waited for the right moment.

"Sure, thanks," he said and sat down in his seat across from her. 'Does she not trust me enough to cut a cake? Or am I being paranoid?'

She put a slice of cake on his plate then placed the knife on the table beside her taking a bit, "this is delicious! You really have a knack for cooking!"

His tight-lipped smile stretched a bit as he took a bite of his food. "I guess I was taught well then," said Ryou. "Thank you."

She nodded taking another bite, "You definitely were!" she smiled taking a couple more bites.

Ryou moved hi fork around, squishing the cake to add the illusion that he had eaten it. "Yeah... Really well..."

She paused, "everything alright? You seem...distracted." she said a bit softer than before.

Ryou took a deep breath. "Yeah, p-peachy." He cringed at his stutter, having hoped to get rid of it.

"I don't believe you," she finished off her cake then sat the fork down, watching him intently, like you would a child.

"My mother told me I should be a cook when I'm older..." Ryou whispered softly, almost like he was speaking to himself. "She said that artists didn't make very much money and that drawing as a hobby would be more fun..."

Frowned, now feeling bad she was at a loss for words, "I'm sorry," she muttered gently, feeling the tension again. /I should just keep my mouth shut/

Ryou went on as if he hadn't heard her speak. "And when she taught me how to bake, she would always smile at me. Even when I managed to blow up the toaster oven, she'd only smile at me. Sister laughed at me, but it was a gentle laughter. I liked it. She liked my cakes, told me they were her favorite..."

She was still silent, listening. Feeling horrible now and an anger burned inside her. /Did he.../ she couldn't think it let alone ask him.

"Then, one day, I knew it was going to happen. I could tell. I could sense it. I dreamed about it so many times, but never did I imagine for it to happen. Than night, everything just-" Ryou suddenly cut off, his eyes widening then blinking as if he had snapped out of his trance. He glanced at the cake and said, "I'll just put that away so it doesn't get stale," and moved towards it.

Standing, she grabbed his wrist gently stopping him from grabbing the cake and pulled him towards her pulling him into a hug. Not knowing what to say, she thought this might consoles him, even in the slightest.

He looked confused as he hugged her back. The last thing he consciously remembered was eating cake. Ryou chose not to speak this, however.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, /no one deserves that, no one deserves this punishment/ she thought then backed away slightly

Ryou was honestly lost now. What could she have done? "Uhh, I forgive you?" he replied, hoping it made sense within the context. He lifted the cake and went into the kitchen.

She watched him walk away confused, "What..." she muttered, "did he not just." she looked around the room and growl, "well I look foolish now." she sighed.

'What did I say? Did I do something...?' Ryou came back into the dining room.

She was still standing there and laughed at herself shaking her head before sitting back in her seat. "So, what now?" she asked with a smile.

Ryou shrugged. "I'm not sure... Do you want a tour of the house perhaps?"

"Sure." she nodded and stood again.

Ryou smiled, then led her around the house, only stopping in certain areas to make a quick comment like, "This is the room with the TV." He then got towards the basement and, after a moments hesitation, opened the door.

She followed him with a smile, nodding, not really making comments about any of the room, just enjoying his company until they got to the basement door where she noticed his hesitation

Ryou led her downstairs, the walls painted with crimson different than paint. The floor was scattered with just about every type of weapon imagineable, from knives to guns to whips to lighters. The majority, of course, being knives, "Watch your step..." Ryou mumbled.

She followed, silent, not even replying to him as he mumbled to her. Her blood ran cold but she managed to hide her fear and worry well as she still smiled gently at him before glancing around the room.

Ryou finally reached a corner of the room and stood, gazing out at all the weapons, blood, and other assorted junk that clattered the basement. "This is Bakura's room," he said in a monotone voice.

"Suits him," she sighed glancing around the room, standing away from him. /as scary as this room is, there is some pretty neat stuff here./

Ryou cringed suddenly and kicked something away. From the looks of it, it was a severed hand. "We should go," he said, moving to leave.

She shivered and nodded making her way towards the stairs trying to keep her cool but doing so rather hastily.

Ryou made his way slowly, however, and finally reached the door after her. He got to the top, smiling.

Once at the top of the stairs and in the hall she turned towards him, gently smiling. "It's a nice house," she said just trying to make conversation.

Ryou's eyes became dark as he spoke suddenly in a low, menacing voice. "Each and every weapon will be crammed down your throat if necessary, Aura. It's your choice." His eyes brightened as Ryou blinked for a moment, disoriented. "Thanks!" he told her, smiling.

"Choice?" she echoed taking a step back, clearly frightened but the moment she realized it was Ryou again, not Bakura she stood upright forcing a smile. "let's move on, shall we?" she said rather quickly and moved down the hall without waiting for him.

Ryou glanced down at her, frowning, but followed her.

Once in the living room she sat down on the couch sighing shaking her head, /there's nothing to worry about/ she thought.

Ryou sat beside her. "Look, I know something's wrong. What's up?" he asked her gently.

"Nothing, honestly, my pain killers must be wearing off is all, nothing serious." she reached into her jacket pocket and took a single pill swallowing it. "Just needed to sit down is all." she muttered looking away.

"Please don't lie to me..." Ryou whispered. "It hurts my feelings." Bakura materialized then, causing Ryou to jump. 'You said-' Bakura tapped on Aura's shoulder lightly, his ghostly hand going through the appendage.

She glanced over at him after feeling the couch move suddenly, "I wasn't lying, I just felt sick suddenly. Is everything alright, you look like you've just seen a ghost." she smiled softly, trying to ease him.

Ryou paled as Bakura laughed at the irony of her statement. Ryou couldn't hold it in any longer. "YOU SAID YOU'D STAY AWAY!" he screamed at what looked like air. Bakura only chuckled. 'No, I said I wouldn't kill her. Now, harming her...'

Aura jumped at Ryou screaming and sighed softly dropping her head. "He's here then," she muttered to herself, "I thought it felt colder in here."

Bakura chuckled. 'Clever girl... Maybe I should sew her lips together...' Ryou twitched, trying not to speak.

"God I wish he had his own body," she said with a chuckle shaking her head, then rather confidently she sat back crossing her arms and legs, "I'd show him a thing or two," she winked, "as long as he shares your body, he knows I won't touch him, rather cowardly I'd say." she shrugged with a sigh.

'My own body? Well, if Ryou was out of the picture of course-' "YOU SAID YOU WOULD LEAVE ME ALONE NOW!" Ryou yelled, causing Bakura to break off. "NOW LEAVE! LEAVE! JUST GO!" The spirit only laughed and circled around the trembling boy.

Her face tightened, "if he even considers harming you, I will make him suffer in more ways than one." she growled standing suddenly. "Leave Ryou out of this Bakura, you already have him where you want him." she straightened her jacket

'Oh, but my dear girl! That's part of the fun! Driving him insane, inch by inch...' Ryou screamed bloody murder, clenching his fists and shutting his eyes fearfully.

She tsk'd and moved towards Ryou placing a consoling hand on each of his shoulders. "you're an asshole Bakura, that's all you are. You were never this sadistic. Whatever you're doing to him, stop." she took a deep breath, "Ryou calm down, you're just giving him what he wants."

Deep down, Ryou knew this to be true. He wished he was strong enough to shrug Bakura off, but he just wasn't. He was natually soft and emotional, and Bakura only made everything worse. Ryou pushed her back, shaking his head.

"Ryou," she growled softly moving close to him again she wondered why her guards didn't come in, clearly they could hear him screaming. But it didn't worry her, she was more worried about Ryou

"Please don't come closer..." He told her, backing away. "It was such a nice evening. Everything went so well... It was the closest I've had to leading a normal life, and I thank you for that."

She stayed back as he requested but had no intentions of leaving, "it was a very nice night Ryou, and I thank you for that, I truly do." she smiled, she loathed Bakura and wanted to rip him apart, but couldn't

'Get on with it, Ryou. I have work to do.' Ryou gulped. "Well, you best be going..." he murmured.

She frowned wanting to argue but nodded, "will you be alright?" she asked softly.

Ryou decided it would be best to be honest with her and shook his head. "I'll manage."

She watched him for a moment then nodded, /I really don't want to, but I think it might be for the best/ she thought then kissed his forehead. She whispered, "my numbers on the table, call if you need anything." then stood upright walking from him.

Ryou nodded, and in a moment of bravery, hugged her from behind. "Thank you so much for everything. It was a pleasure having you over and I'm so glad I got to see you," he rambled quickly, glancing at Bakura who was narrowing his eyes.

She nearly jumped when he hugged her but smiled instead touching his arms lightly, "thank you for making a wonderful dinner. And don't think either of you have gotten me out of your hair," she laughed attempting to lighten the mood

It didn't. Bakura took over that moment in a burst of light and shoved her away. "Get the hell out of here and don't touch my body again," he hissed. Bakura literally shoved her out the door and slammed it behind him.

"If I recall correctly he hugged me," she muttered under her breath sighing. Then hoped down the steps onto the sidewalk where her guards met her. "He's so touchy." she shook her head looking over her shoulder back towards the house.

Bakura was yanking down the blinds angrily as she looked back. He had a strange gleam in his eyes. Not a dark one, but almost a protective one. With one final glare, Bakura was out of sight.

"Strange," she whispered.  
>"Everything alright?" Roland asked and she nodded.<br>"Let's go home, I have school in the morning," she sighed as the limo pulled up.

The white-haired man set to work then, starting with ripping up Aura's number. "He won't be needing that..." He then went into the kitchen to finish Ryou's cake.

/I wish I knew what his problem was/ she sighed as she walked through the house stopping in the bathroom where she brushed out her hair. /I know I'm annoying but,/ she sighed hearing the door to her bedroom open. /I suppose another day/ setting the brush down she crawled into bed.

After eating every last crumb of Ryou's cake, Bakura got rid of all the other food in the house and went downstairs to sleep in his room.


	7. Chapter 7

That next morning, she rolled out of bed grunting rubbing her eyes. "School?" Seto asked and she nodded walking into the bathroom. She was not a morning person. It was only a matter of a half an hour or so before she sat in the car on the way to school glancing at the bracelet.

Ryou woke up the next morning feeling awful. He was covered in mysterious scratches and bruises, and his head killed him. He got dressed for school slowly and began walking, stumbling slightly.

Aura was glancing out the window when her eyes narrowed, "pull over." she ordered and they did. "Ryou?" she muttered stepping out of the car, "you look sick," she said.

He looked up, his head throbbing at the very motion. He felt like he was walking through a haze. "Hey Aura, when'd you get here...?" he asked in a slightly slurred voice.

She sighed softly helping him to the car, "you're not well, why are you going to school? You should be home, sleeping." she sat him down inside and the driver took off.

Ryou leaned on her, his head spinning. "Why is it so bright...?" he asked her in the same slurred tone.

"Are you...drunk?" she asked with a sigh.

"I don't... Drink... I'm only sixteen," he told her, then suddenly turned green. He puked in his book bag.

She sighed, "That didn't stop me." shaking her head they arrived at his house and she helped him out of the car, then brought him up to his room helping him onto the bed.

Ryou lied in bed feeling absolutely awful. He did however enjoy how comfortable the bed was and soon fell asleep, an expression of calm peace overtaking his features.

"That didn't take long," she muttered and went into the bathroom grabbing a cool moist towel and placed it on his forehead, grabbing his bag he went into the kitchen and began cleaning it out. /I shouldn't stay for long/ she thought cleaning out the inside of his bag and all his belongings, throwing away what was useless now.

"School..." Ryou muttered in a half awake, half asleep dream state. "Have... To go."

Once done cleaning, she grabbed a glass of cold water and a painkiller from her own bag and returned to his room setting the glass and pill down to catch him mumbling in his sleep, "you're not going to school, you're sick, lay down and sleep it off or you'll feel worse later."

"Stressed... He drinks... Stressed..." Ryou murmured, eyes closed. He rolled over slightly to face her.

"Stressed?" she muttered thinking. Sitting on the bedside she grabbed the towel that slipped off his face and placed it back on, gently, careful not to wake him.

"Drinks... Stress..." Ryou muttered, now almost completely unconscious and feeling comfortable, "Bakura..."

"Bakura drinks when he's stressed?" she asked the silence, /what does he have to be stressed about?/ she thought watching him sleep

Ryou twitched his head as a nod. "You..." He finally fell unconscious, giving gentle snores as he drifted off to dream land.

"Me?" she said and looked away from him frowning. /why do I stress him out? Maybe it would be best if I left Ryou, but I can't just leave him/ she grunted softly rubbing her eyes. "what to do?"

Ryou's hand moved in his sleep, landing lightly on hers.

Looks over towards him and smiles softly. /I can't leave him, I care for him/ she thought.

His hand moved off of her in an almost shoving motion as he turned in his sleep.

"I suppose I should leave then, now that he's taken care of." she sighed standing, "for what it's worth, I'm sorry I stress you out." she muttered to the silence, then turned towards the door. "Sleep well Ryou."

Bakura, in spirit form, watched her leave. 'What is it about her that draws Ryou like a bug to a light?' He murmured, looking down at Ryou then. 'What does he see...?'

She stopped walking once outside and glanced back. /Just don't hurt him anymore./ she begged silently opening the door to the car.

Bakura watched her from the upstairs window, emotionless.

"Damn it," she said aloud and got in the limo slamming the car door shut, heading back towards the school.

As she left, Bakura took control of Ryou's body and tailed her to school. Yes, he still felt the effects of being drunk, but he didn't want to sit around and do nothing all day. Besides, maybe Ryou would be busted for coming to school drunk.

She was late, but she didn't care, no one questioned her. Sitting in her desk she barely paid attention, her glance out the window as she thought messing with the ring on her necklace.

Not a minute later, Ryou entered and sat down in his seat, looking hopelessly confused.

She looked over at him at a loss for words, "uh, how are you feeling?" she asked softly

He put his head down on the desk to convey his feeling. "I never get a day off, do I?" he asked, trying to smile as he lifted his head. The lights above made his eyes water and burn.

"You just need some water," reaching into her bag she grabbed the bottle of water she brought for lunch and set it on his desk. "Drink plenty of that it should make you feel better. During break I'll give you something for the headache."

Ryou nodded, taking a huge sip of water. He almost immediately felt better as he continued taking tiny sips of the drink.

"Easy, sips, don't drink it so fast, you'll make yourself sick." she glanced at the clock, "we should be heading to lunch soon, we'll get you something to settle that stomach." she smiled looking towards the front of the class.

Ryou ended up sleeping through the majority of the class, lucky the teacher didn't call him out on it. He didn't even hear the bell ring nor see students filing out of the classroom.

Aura waited behind shooting the teacher a glare when she noticed Ryou sleeping. Standing, she walked over to him and shook his shoulder lightly, softly calling his name.

Ryou's head shot up, almost at once making him dizzy once more. "Class over?" he asked as he stood and grabbed his bookbag. "Thanks for waking me..."

"Slow down, don't move so fast," she chuckled, "come on, let's get you something to eat, help relax your stomach a bit." she led him from the classroom to the cafeteria.

Ryou felt himself leaning on her as they walked. Or she walked, he stumbled. "We should eat outside today," he told her as they stood in line.

"Alright, sounds good." she nodded and once they had their food, she paid for the both of them and headed outside.

He didn't bother arguing with her, not having the energy to do so. Instead, Ryou led her to a large oak tree with a large amount of shade and sat below it.

She sat beside him and decided she wasn't hungry at all. Thankfully, it was a beautiful day outside and she looked up smiling gently, trying to forget everything that happened.

Ryou seemed to be doing the same as he laid down and got comfortable. 'So serene...'

"Try to at least eat the bread, alcohol increases with acid in your stomach, the bread will soak it up and lessen the pain," she said simply never looking towards him. "That and drink water."

He came crashing back to reality as his head throbbed to a steady beat. Ryou took a chunk of bread and put it in his mouth, a few crumbs on the corners of his lips.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she muttered reaching into her bag and pulling out a bottle of pills, then handed him one, "this should help with your headache."

Ryou took the pill, then laid down. "Tell me about your childhood," he said suddenly.

"My childhood?" she echoed, "well, my mother died right after giving birth to me, my father went traveling the world without me to try and find a way to bring her back, when he returned he was possessed by the evil in a millennium item and now I run his company. I spent most all of my childhood alone, learning business."

He frowned, not expecting such an answer. Even he had had a good memory or two from when he was extremely little. "That's... Sad."

She shrugged sipping her water, "no use being sad about it, there's nothing I can change about it. If things hadn't happened the way they did I wouldn't have met Seto, Yugi, you or anyone else."

He nodded slowly. "But still... Not a single day of fun?"

She thought for a moment, "I can't remember any particular day that stands out, no. But, I was a kid I'm sure I did have fun occasionally."

Frowning, Ryou looked up into the branches of the tree. "You need to have more fun," he said aloud. "A day of fun."

"I can't say that I've never had fun, since I've met the Kaiba brothers, I do spend alot of time with Mokuba, and it's near impossible to not have any fun when he's around. Plus with Yugi and his gang, hanging with them is fun and spending time with you is just as fun." she smiled forcing herself to eat something.

Ryou took a bite out of a carrot stick. "I'm not very much fun," he said, thinking.

"Sure you are, I've had fun spending time with you." she placed the tray to the side

"Aura, you get hurt almost every time we're together," he pointed out.

She shrugged, "that doesn't mean the time I spend with you isn't fun. I enjoy every minute we spend together." she looked away. /He said I stressed him out though/ she thought, /doesn't make much sense to me./

"Well..." Ryou was surprised at the ease of her comment. "I like spending time with you too." 'I just wish I could do it without being watched...' he thought as he glanced at Bakura's ghost form a few feet away from him.

She nodded but kept her glance away. "you need to smile more you know." she couldn't help but chuckle

'It's hard to.' Despite the thought, Ryou managed a small grin. "I suppose I do..."

Aura smiled still looking around at the other students. "How are you feeling? Any better?"

"A little dizzy, but definitely better thanks to you," he told her. "How did you know how to help me so easily?" Ryou paused, hesitated, then, "Do you drink?"

"No problem," she said and looked over at him, "yes, I do, probably not as often as him, but I do. That's actually how I met him, was at the bar not far from your house."

Ryou forced a laugh. "It's his favorite," he said hesitantly, locking eyes with Bakura. "He goes there often, but usually doesn't have more than a glass or two... Or three..."

She looked over to where he was looking and although she wanted to say something, she didn't. "Sometimes, it helps, as bad as it is."

Bakura nodded his head slightly. "It does a bit," Ryou said aloud. "But it also distracts you from the truth, and never helps in the end." A glare from the spirit silenced him after that.

"It's a temporary ailment, and sometimes..." she trailed off pausing for a moment, "sometimes it helps you slip from real world worries, sometimes it helps you relax when you need it most."

Ryou, deciding to be brave, said, "But no matter how many times you do it, it never solves the problem. If nothing else, it makes things worse. It's a waste of time and not worth the effort."

She growled under her breath and looked towards the ground, "I know this," she said rather harsh, "but for that brief moment, nothing matters and that's all you need, no matter if it makes it worse later on or not. Alcohol is bad, yes I know that, everyone knows that, but.." she stopped realizing she was getting upset and took a deep breath. "I drink, not often but I do."

"It's not good for you, the people around you, and does nothing to help except for providing a false sense of security for a split second before evaporating," Ryou summed up. He was surprising himself at the bluntness of his statement.

"Enough," she spat suddenly. "I know." she said quieter

Ryou backed off, frowning. He took a sip of water, not daring to look up at her,

"Sorry," she whispered fiddling her hands on her lap.

He shook his head. "No, it's my fault for prying. I just hate the stuff..."

"I only drink when I'm stressed, with work, life, school. You know," she said softly still.

"No, I don't know," Ryou said honestly, eyes locking with Bakura once more. "Action is a better policy than drinking." He accented every syllable.

"Be careful what you say and how you say it." she sighed leaning back on the tree, "with some people drinking is better than most of their actions." she said hoping he'd catch on to her drift

Sadly, Ryou didn't follow. "Then it's hardly worth living if the best thing they can do with themselves is get drunk."

She sighed shaking her head, "never mind, I wasn't talking about me or you, Ryou. Let's just drop the topic cause it's only gonna get worse."

Ryou frowned, but nodded anyway. "Okay then. Uhh... Want to do something after school?" he asked her.

She nodded, "yea, that would be nice." she thought, "what would you like to do?"

He thought for a minute before, "Well, I need to do a few chores, but after that we could take a walk or something."

"Alright, when do you want me to swing by? Or did you want to meet up at my place?"

"Well, I don't care where we meet and it'll only take a few minutes to finish. I just need to wash something before I go out," he said, finishing a carrot stick.

"Hmmm," she thinks, "well I'll drive you home and hang out until you're ready."

He nodded happily. "Sounds great!"

Nods with a smile, "hurry and finish, lunch should be over soon."

"I'm done now," he told her, finishing the last carrot stick. "We should head back."

"Ok, sure." she stood and offered a hand to help him stand not sure if he was still dizzy or not

Taking the hand, Ryou stood and wobbled slightly before determining his stance leveled. He followed Aura back into the building.

Once in the room she sat down at her desk and sighed softly glancing out the window too wound up in her thoughts to pay attention

Ryou was doing the same thing, except that it was Bakura who was wrapped up in yelling at him. 'Ryou, I have a mission planned for after school,' he hissed angrily. 'I'm busy.' Ryou only sighed. 'Come on, why can't I have a spot of fun now and again? I mean, I deserve it...' Bakura glared back. 'No.'

She sighed nearing the end of the day propped her head in her hand. "I wonder," she muttered aloud and then the bell for the end of the day rang.

Ryou came over to her, a frown on his features. "Uh, I can't hang out today," he told her sadly. "I'm... Busy."

She narrowed her eyes on him, "alright." she muttered, "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Yeah, positive."

She frowned, "alright, if you change your mind..." she trailed off, "I'll be at KaibaCorp most of the evening, I have some testing to do in his virtual world."

Ryou nodded. "I'll try and call you later, but can I have your number again? I seemed to... Misplace it."

"Misplaced?" she muttered, "oh, sure!" she took out a pen and scribbled on the back of his hand, "don't misplace it this time, alright? I'll see you later, and drink water still k?"

Nodding once more, Ryou stuffed the number in his pocket and headed home. The moment he stepped in the door, Bakura took over and set to work.


	8. Chapter 8

Aura rode to KaibaCorp like she said and went straight to the basement where Seto was already waiting. "Your late," he growled and she waived him off. "Unlike you, I actually go to school, let's get this going." she sighed sitting in the pod.

Bakura found himself at the mall about ten minutes later and cracked his knuckles. "Let's begin..." he murmured.

Aura walked around aimlessly, bored, "everything looks good." she sighed kicking one of the rocks into the water. "everything."

After successfully robbing four different stores, Bakura had a sudden idea. He headed out of the mall and down a few streets before coming close to the Kaiba Corp building.

Aura stepped off the dueling platform and slipped her deck away, "congrats Seto, you won, can I come out of this virtual world now?" she asked looking at the sky and a virtual screen popped up in front of her. "your timer is still set, you have about an hour left. I'll be back, just relax until the timer sets off." he said and before she said anything the screen disappeared /well what the hell do I do for an hour?/

Bakura easily evaded the security officers, not to mention dodged the cameras. He found himself wandering towards a door at the end of a long, narrow hallway.

She decided to mess around, and forced the environment to change so that she was now standing in the palace in ancient Egypt. "Well that's impressive, seems like Seto added in some extra juice to the system." she walked around the empty room.

The crimson-eyed man opened the door to see multiple pods set up in a seemingly empty room. He looked around curiously.

She shivered lightly and rubbed her arms, "well that's a problem, it should be warm unless my actual body is getting cold. Who'd be messing with the thermostat?"

Spotting a control room, Bakura entered and saw all sorts of buttons and settings. For what, he wasn't positive, but he pushed the thermostat until it hit about twenty degrees.

"Damn it Seto," she shivered, "get me out of here." she glanced at her watch which was the same as the timer, "forty-five minutes of this crap."

Growing bored, he turned to the setting knob. He twisted it without really paying attention, his mind elsewhere.

The environment around her suddenly and violently changed and she growled, "alright, now I know someone's messing around." she hissed as she forced the environment back to the palace. "command override," she said aloud but nothing happened. "damn it."

Bakura sighed, and decided to push random buttons. He dragged his arms against the controls, wondering exactly what he was doing, not to mention why he was here in the first place.

The world around her went insane and she sat down crossing her arms, "command override." something buzzed and she smiled, "open up a main link please." she closed her eyes growling, the main screen turned on in the control room. "Seto, stop messing around! Seriously!" she yelled

A screen popped up and Bakura actually jumped. He peered at it, seeing Aura's face. "The hell...?"

"Shit," she cursed opening her eyes, "how the hell did you get in here? This place is locked down." she looked away, "I told Seto to let me take care of his security but nooooo his is way better." she mocked

"How did you get trapped in a box?" Bakura replied. He leaned on the thermostat, making the temperature leap up. "And security means nothing for me."

"Box?" she muttered and sighed /good, if I can play this off for a while I may be able to get out of here./ she thought. "Creepy scary magic." she stood and when the environment settled it went back to the ancient palace.

Bakura chuckled darkly. "And these controls... Affect you?" He turned the setting knob once more to reveal a large, sandy beach. "Interesting..."

"Doesn't really affect me personally, only the environment I'm in." she muttered, /and the severity of the characters within it/ she thought. /Seto, where the hell are you?/

Bakura flipped several more buttons and pulled a few levers. "I had plans to rob Kaiba Corp, but this amuses me too greatly to just let pass by."

Growled as not only did the scenery begin to change, so did the weather now. "oh rob KaibaCorp, you're just a big bad thief, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "I wouldn't be saying such things if I were you." He dropped the weather to twelve degrees below zero.

She shivered but kept as much of a firm, stern face as she could, glaring straight at him. "touchy, are we?"

He dropped the weather lower. "When will you learn? When a few of your fingers freeze off, perhaps?"

She grunted shifting her eyes from the screen, "I'm leaving Ryou alone today so how about you just leave? Before I call security myself." she closed her eyes /even I know that won't do much but it will buy me some time/

"But, you see, Ryou has directly disobeyed me. I decided to try a new method of torture for him. Harming his so-called friends," Bakura turned the temperature even lower.

She couldn't help but shudder and even a light came on, beeping at the controls. "Like I'm afraid of you," she cursed under her breath. "Command override, abort system."

"So you want to come out and fight? Fine by me." Bakura stood slowly.

The world around her faded and one of the pods opened up allowing her to sit upright, "always such a headache." she grunted rubbing her head

A knife whizzed through the air and landed mere inches from her left cheek. Bakura smirked, standing a few feet away from her.

She jumped then shot him a glare, "At the worst time." she shook her head pulling the knife from the machine, "thanks now I'm going to have to fix that before Seto notices." she stood from the machine stumbling a bit before standing upright.

"My pleasure," he said sarcastically, holding a much larger, longer knife in his own hand.

She waived him off walking towards the controls, "I'm not in the mood Bakura, can you attempt to kill me another day." she began resting the controls. "Besides, now that I ended the test early Seto will be down here any moment, with guards no doubt."

"You know, a victim is no fun if they don't put up a fight," Bakura replied hotly.

"Cry me a river," she flung the knife towards him so it landed on between his feet dug deep in the floor.

"And fill it with Ryou's tears," he retorted, taking the knife and putting the end in his mouth.

Her eyes met him, "either way you win right? You torture me, he cries, you don't torture me you torture him, he cries. Seems pretty low to me," she sighed standing upright.

"I tend to like the statistics of a win-win situation as most people would," he replied, spitting the knife out and having it land balanced on top of one of the pods perfectly.

"And I thought Seto was bad," she muttered under her breath. Then walked around the controls so she could lean against it with her arms crossed, "What would it take to have your word that Ryou wouldn't be harmed by you?"

"I don't believe you understand, girl," Bakura replied, flinging another knife so that it balanced beside the first. "It's not something that I will ever stop."

"Then I have no intention of playing games, you're a nuisance to me just as much now as you were then." she sighed

"Then perhaps you would like it more if I were gone...?" he asked, a dark smile suddenly dancing on his lips.

"You, yes, Ryou, no; he doesn't deserve the torment you put him through." she forced herself to look away from him.

"A shame that we go together as a pair then, Hmm?" Bakura said breezily, amused with the fact that she wouldn't meet his eyes. No one ever did, minus Ryou.

She turned to look at him, "let me ask you something. Something I highly doubt you'll answer, honestly at the least. Why, above all people in the world, do I stress you out?"

For a split second, an emotion flickered in Bakura's eyes. "If I knew what you meant, I might be able to fathom an answer. Sadly, I do not so I cannot." Another knife was flung and three knives lay balanced on top of the pod.

She narrowed her eyes on him and shrugged, "whatever. Not like I care." she looked away glancing at the door; she wondered why no one had come down yet when the monitor beeped. Hissing; she moved over to it and shifted her and the camera so it was just her in the shot. "Yes?" she answered.  
>"Is everything alright?" Seto asked and she nodded.<br>"Yea, the thermostat knob came loose and dropped, I couldn't get a-hold of you so I aborted and adjusted it myself."  
>"Are you alone?" he asked heavily.<br>"Yea, I'm alone, I'm taking a breather right now, I'll jump back in, in a couple of minutes to finish the test. If I need you, or anyone, I'll call alright?" he nodded and she shut off the screen.

Bakura was surprised at her response. 'Why not rat me out and get me to leave?' he thought. 'She must have a motive.'

Shaking her head she rubbed her eyes, /that was stupid/ she thought then glanced at the bracelet, /I still have this as a backup, just in case/ she crossed the room to a supply cabinet. "Don't think too hard, I just don't want Seto seeing the damage you did to his machine." she lied walking over to the pod she was just in with a box full of tools.

'I smell a liar.' Bakura sighed. "I suppose I'm just stuck here then, aren't I?" he said, feigning a joyful tone and expression.

She popped off the sheet with the damage and sighed, "The doors right over there." she muttered pointing at it with a hammer. "Security has been heightened no doubt, Seto's a worry wort like that, so you should have some amusement."

"You think I would just use a door to escape a situation like that?" Bakura asked, almost surprised. "Really? Of course I wouldn't!"

"Not my problem," she muttered now messing with a blow torch, melting the metal back into place, /why do I have a feeling I'm fixing this for nothing?/ she growled as her cast made it increasingly difficult to get any good work done.

Bakura took a few steps away from her, closing his eyes and mumbling under his breath. He held his hands out, a mist gathering around them.

She glanced up at him, and then threw the sheet back onto the machine, purposefully being loud and annoying. /what is he doing?/ she thought watching him from the corner of her eyes.

The mist grew larger and darker as Bakura's chanting grew louder and louder until his eyes suddenly snapped open. They seemed to glow in the sudden darkness that filled the room as he began walking into the mist.

Stood turning towards him, /what in the./ she darkness grew and she stepped back tripping on the pod, falling onto it.

Bakura, now half gone, grinned. His white teeth glowed brightly against the mist as he continued stepping in until he, along with the mist, vanished completely.


	9. Chapter 9

"A magic show...to just vanish?" she growled standing upright rubbing her back. "ow that hurt."

Bakura appeared a few feet away from Kaiba Corp and walked hurriedly towards a familiar spot.

The door opened and Roland with a couple guards came rushing in. "are you alright?" he asked and I nodded. Looking at the bracelet she nodded it was blinking, "sorry I must've hit it when I fell, everything's alright, go ahead and leave I have work to finish up." nodding they left and she sighed.

Only a few minutes after Bakura had left Kaiba Corp, he found himself sitting in a bar with a mug of beer in his hand.

Only a couple minutes passed and she dropped the box in the closet and grunted noticing the knives on the pods and grabbed them slipped them into her bag. With a chuckle she left the building

Four beers later, Bakura was officially wasted.

She made it to Ryou's house and once she found it was empty, walked to the bar, gently opening the door. Just like she expected he was sitting at the bar with empty glasses around him. Walking over, she jammed each of the knives into the table before him, "you left these." she growled.

Bakura looked up at her, a mist having fallen in his eyes. He looked hopelessly confused.

"You're pathetic, you know that?" she sighed, "I bet you can't even walk straight."

He stood up, glaring darkly at her. "Can so!" he slurred angrily, picking up a knife and jamming it into his pocket.

"Oh, so you can stand, I'm proud of you, now walk, without stumbling." she said standing beside him still.

He barred his fangs at her and walked in a straight line perfectly, surprising even himself as he did so. "Ha!"

"Congrats, I'm proud of you." she sighed, "bet you can't walk home without stumbling." she grinned evily

He flashed her the finger before slamming his fist on the counter. "CAN SO!" he screamed defiantly, and shoved the door open to walk home.

"Point for me." she placed some money on the bar, plenty enough to pay for his drinks then followed him out the door.

Bakura was currently walking the opposite was, though he was doing it without stumbling.

She followed him at a distance, her arms crossed not care if he noticed or not.

Bakura continued walking aimlessly, thinking he was on his way to the house. He muttered incoherent words as he walked.

/where is he going?/ she thought following after him. Still silent /and what is he mumbling?/

After about an hour, it was clear that he was lost, though he kept on walking. "Gonna do it, gonna find it, gonna make it, gonna kill it..." he murmured.

"This is ridiculous," she sighed. "he's drunk and lost." her arms relaxed to her side as she still followed him

They made their way towards the edge of town before Bakura suddenly grinned and sat under a tall oak tree. "Gonna do it, gonna find it, gonna make it, gonna kill it!" he exclaimed happily.

She stopped, now standing before him, "you have no idea where you are, do you?" she said more to herself than to him.

Bakura smiled up at her, looking eerily like Ryou, though still having Bakura's piercing crimson eyes. "Gonna do it, I did, Gonna find it, I did, Gonna make it, I did, Gonna kill it..."

"You're pathetic, you know? Try not to stab me until we get home alright?" she leaned over and slung his arm over her shoulders helping him up.

He looked utterly confused. "I can stand!" he snapped, though he did it in a lighthearted tone completely unlike his natural voice.

She ignored him and walked him towards his house.

Bakura slapped her hands away, stumbling slightly but remaining upright. "Get away!" he said angrily. "Go away!"

"No, you're drunk and lost." she moved back to his side, "I won't touch you but I'm going to make sure you get home."

"Me? DRUNK?" He laughed a lighthearted, airy laugh. "I never get drunk because I have such a high tolerance!" Bakura slurred.

"Yea, sure. You're so right. You're not drunk, how foolish of me," she stopped at the stairs leading to his door, turning towards him to see if he'd trip or not.

"At last you see things my way!" he said happily, going into his house. "My pockets are supper heavy..." He giggled.

"I bet, King of Thieves." she said following him inside, she was determined to make sure he made it to bed alright.

Bakura started emptying his pockets. A necklace here, a solid gold ring there, and so one spilled from his jacket as he lifted each object to make a comment like, "Pretty!"

She stood across the room watching him, annoyed. /Just go to bed so I know you'll be alright/ she thought to herself.

But he did no such thing. He started wandering the house aimlessly.

She stayed out of his way, watching him, making sure he didn't stumble or fall. /Why am I still here?/

Finally, Bakura sat down with a plop. He looked over towards the wall, grinning and waving. "Hello!"

facepalm "he's worse than drunk," she whispered to herself. /getting him to drink water would be pointless/

Bakura frowned. "Me? I'm not drunk! You're just like the girl!" He paused as if waiting for a response. "I'M NOT TIRED!"

She glanced over at the spot he was yelling at and then back at him, /Ryou?/ she thought but remained silent.

"I DON'T WANNA!" Bakura complained, turning around and standing up. "AND STOP YELLING!" He paused. "I WON'T YELL IF YOU DON'T!"

She remained silent, listening, watching him argue with Ryou, though she couldn't see or hear him.

Bakura stomped his foot. "I REFUSE!" He was growing irrationally angry. "I WILL IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP!" Bakura stomped into the kitchen, grabbing a knife.

Flinches, but watches him, not moving. As he picks up the knife she stands upright, waiting.

Bakura thrusted the knife deeply into his chest, suddenly dropping to his knees and coughing up a thin trail of blood, "H-Heheheh... Thought I wouldn't do it, huh?" he taunted the air in front of him.

"Shit." she growled rushing towards him falling to her knees pulling out her cell phone, "you drunken idiot!" she yelled. Raising the cell phone to her ear she held it up with her shoulder and held the wound closed.

"I'm not an i-" He coughed, more blood coming up. It seemed that the knife's tip had pierced something vital.

"Damn it." she growled and within moments there was an ambulance out front, "you are absolutely an idiot, and I swear to god if you die Bakura." she hissed as there were more people around him pushing her away.

"Told you..." Bakura murmured almost silently as he began to black out. In his final moments of strength, he whispered, "Ryou..."


	10. Chapter 10

Aura followed them to the hospital but was forced to wait in the waiting room as she paced back and forth. "I swear to god if he died I'm find him in the afterlife, bring him back and murder him myself!" she said to herself.

Bakura's unconscious body twitched as Bakura's mind lay fast asleep in his soul room. Ryou, however, was sitting next to Aura worrying just as much. He was trying to figure out how to speak with her.

She ruffled her hair sighing softly, "damn it Bakura." she repeated. "I hope Ryou's ok, I swear if he jumped away to let him feel the pain." she tightened a fist, "where is that damn doctor?" she looked around.

Ryou sat beside her and closed his eyes, focusing. If Bakura could do it, he could to. 'Hello? Aura?' he said quietly within her mind so as not to startle her. The strain from speaking to her was already great, but he tried to ignore it.

She jumped looking around. "Ryou?" she asked, /Did I just hear him?/ she thought but he was nowhere to be found in the room. /am I losing it?/

'No, you're quite sane.' Ryou chuckled lightly. 'Though I might just be...'

/Ryou, are you alright?/ she thought hurriedly, worried.

'Aura, my body is literally dying on me. No, I'm not alright,' he replied. Ryou leaned his head on her shoulder, then fell to the floor remembering that he was transparent.

/You won't die, I won't let it, I won't. Neither of you./ she said tightening her fist and shutting her eyes. /I don't care what it takes, how much it costs/

'He stabbed my heart, Aura,' Ryou said quietly. 'The chances of me living are less than one.'

/You won't die./ her head dropped as she cried, /you won't/ she repeated.

'Come on, don't cry...' he muttered to her. 'My consciousness will die soon, and I don't want you sobbing to be my last memory.'

She forced a smile, "I can't help it, you are my best friend. My only real friend." she thought, /Kaibas Virtual system/ she thought suddenly. /I don't want to lose you./

Ryou smiled lightly though he knew she couldn't see it. 'Thank you for that. It was a pleasure knowing you and it made some of the happiest times of my life.'

/You won't die, I know it, I can save you./ she thought. /We did it with Noah, we've done it to others before with major surgeries like this/ she thought as she rose her head then pulled out her cell phone dialing a number, hesitating to push the button.

Ryou looked at her, confused. 'What are you doing?' he asked slowly. He could feel his soul fading as the strain from speaking to her ate away at this limited life time left.

/It was a successful trial, that's worked before, Ryou, I can save you!/ she thought and pressed the number waiting, "Seto, I don't have allot of time, so listen. You remember that mobile virtual system we set up? I need you to grab that then come down to the hospital immediately, my friend he's dying, I need it."  
>"Alright," he said and hung up. Ryou, I just need the both of you to hold on for just a little bit longer!/

Ryou could hardly see straight now. His ghostly figure was fading quickly. 'I... Can't, Aura... Look, it was a pleasure knowing you, and I'll... Miss you...' is head was spinning.

"Yes, hold on, stop talking to me if it helps." she said standing then walked away. /I will save you!/ she thought and moved straight into the ER. "This room is now officially in KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions name." she said and A couple guards moved past her with new equipment. 

Ryou continued fading and fading, his mind almost a blur of nothingness when a sudden power swelled in his chest. His eyes snapped open and his form, though still transparent, seemed more whole. 'Wha...?' Bakura glanced at him, emotion flickering through his eyes as he stood beside his lighter half.

Aura moved fast, not saying a single word as she set up the new device onto Ryou. "I think I've done it." she said as the machines buzzed around her. "I think, he's safe, for now." she sighed sitting in the chair. /I don't know though, I wish I could hear him still." sleep tugged at her eyes. /If he is still alive, the surgery can be done with little risk and he should be fine/ she thought looking at the second headset sitting on a rack

'Aura, I have time,' he said to her, his voice ringing out loud and clear to her. Ryou glanced at Bakura who only rolled his eyes and vanished.

Her eyes opened looking around, "good, but you both are about to get sucked into the virtual world when this surgey starts." she said grabbing a small laptop typing away at it. "It's too dangerous to be fully connected to your body. You might feel discomfort, but both of you should wake up in the realm fine."

Ryou was, of course, worried. '...What?'

"Don't worry, both of you will be fine, and nothing that happens in there will harm either of you here. If it works better for you I can separate the both of you." she muttered still clicking away at the computer.

'W-what? NO!' Ryou screamed, not realizing that the volume of his voice in her mind might sound louder to her than it did him. 'NO!'

"Ow, quiet down, what's wrong?" she asked looking up remember she couldn't see him. "I'm saving you." she said softly, /should I not be?/

'I know, just...' Ryou sighed. 'Don't give Bakura his own body. Please, trust me.'

/I mean, in the virtual world it'll be hard, you two are two completely different spirits, I won't be able to do much there, but I promise you I won't here in real life./ she thought

Ryou nodded, then remembered she couldn't see him. "Okay."

"Alright," she said and took a deep breath, "are you ready?" she asked.

'No, but I have to be.'

"You'll be fine, I'll follow you in as soon as I get you in surgery." she said and pressed a button sending both of them into the virtual realm. Standing, she walked out of the room towards the doctors to finalize everything

Ryou looked around, shocked. Bakura stood next to him and that made Ryou shiver.

She watched as he was pushed out of the room and frowned softly. "I'm going in," she said to Seto putting on the headset. "Just to make sure everything's okay." he nodded and she shut her eyes, jumping into the virtual realm only moments later

Ryou turned to see Aura, but was being held onto tightly by Bakura. "Where the hell are we?" the darker of the white-haired boys asked angrily.

"Relax," she said, "you can't kill him here, you can't kill yourself or any of us here." she sighed and waived her hand, a chair materialized behind her and she sat. "It's quite simple, I didn't want either of you dying, so I saved you."

Bakura's grip on Ryou only tightened. "Well, aren't you kind?"

"I know. Now, let go of him, don't be so clingy," she rested back in the chair, "and I'll explain how this is going to work, because as it is, I could put Ryou back in his body and leave you here." she said with a grin, it wasn't true but she had the upper hand. "I've also turned off Ryou's pain sensor's so he won't feel a single thing you do to him."

Bakura's grip didn't loosen for a moment. "You fucker," he said to Ryou who flinched.

"Seriously, relax!" she yelled, "I'm doing a favor, something you hardly deserve!" she growled and stood walking towards them. "You irritate the piss out of me." she glared at Bakura staring him dead in the eyes. "Let go of him."

"Make me," he said simply. Ryou frowned at the two of them, not daring to speak. "He's my property," Bakura said in a low tone.

She growled and grabbed his collar, opening her mouth to say something she stopped suddenly. "No," she released him and took a small step back, "I'm not going to stoop to your level. I'm not afraid of you, especially here."

Bakura smirked. He opened his mouth to speak when Ryou shrieked at the top of his lungs. The sound was horrid, high, and spilt both of their ear drums.

"Oh God!" she growled covering her ears, "what the hell was that?"

Ryou stopped after a straight minute of screaming. "STOP IT! STOP THE FIGHTING AND THE YELLING AND THE THREATS AND-" He broke off, sobbing. "Stop, stop, STOP!"

"Alright, sorry." she said, "that was the most painful thing I've ever had to endure." she laughed. "Now, should I explain to you your current situation, or do you not care?" she asked glaring at Bakura in particular

Bakura glared back, but Ryou shoved him slightly. " 'Kura!" he yelled, and Bakura blushed slightly, shoving the boy. "Shut it."

"Ha, how cute, he has a pet name!" she laughed, "Now I know what to say just to piss you off." she winked.

Bakura shoved Ryou to the ground and glared daggers at her. "Don't you fucking dare."

"Or what?" she couldn't help but laugh. she looked between the two of them before her smile grew, "ah, I get it now." she crossed her arms and stood upright.

Ryou stood slowly and Bakura pushed him down again. "Stay down," he hissed and Ryou laid down, trembling.

She grit her teeth, "don't treat him like that, if he wants to stand up let him stand up. Better yet." she snapped her fingers and a hole appeared under Ryou, devouring him, only for a moment as he appeared behind her now. "Go ahead Ryou, stand up." she said her eyes not leaving Bakura's

Ryou shook his head from the ground, and Bakura smirked.

"Whatever, I don't care." she shrugged. "onto more important matters. Thanks to some idiot who decided to stab himself both of you nearly died. Luckily, I managed to bring you both here in enough time to get your body into surgery to repair what you damaged. You might be in here for a while until your body can recover since I can't trust a certain someone from hurting themselves again."

Bakura glared at Ryou. "It's his fault actually," he said and Ryou stiffened from the ground. "He told me to stab myself."

"I don't care, you were the idiot dumb enough to do it." she said. /When I said I wanted to be rid of you, I didn't mean it like that/ she thought to herself sighing.

Ryou groaned from the ground. "I said to-" Bakura cut him off rudely. "If you don't stop speaking, you know what'll happen."

She grit her teeth, "why don't you stop picking on him?" she growled, "what did he do to deserve it?"

"Deserve?" Bakura asked her. "He's my property and I do with him as I wish." Ryou twitched from the ground, but didn't dare speak.

"Property? From the way I see it he was born with that body, not you. You had your chance, it's not he's fault you messed it up!" she said and bit her tongue as soon as she said it looking away from him.

"He's my reincarnation," Bakura said angrily. "Not to mention none of your business. He was better off without you!"

"Yea and he was better off without you! At least I can shed some happiness in his life and not have him fearful of every dark corner!" she took a slight step forward

Bakura mirrored her action. "You understand nothing about the situation," he hissed. Ryou stiffened from the ground, frowning.

"I can obviously see you're hurting him!" she rose a fist in anger. "I don't see what you have against him!"

Ryou stood slowly as Bakura glared at him. "Why must you two fight...?"

She eased turning to look at Ryou. "We...uh..." she didn't know the answer.

"Bakura, stop. Aura, stop. If you two keep arguing, I'm going to run away," Ryou finished lamely.

"Ryou, no offense, but go where, this is the virtual realm, in a blink of an eye I can have you right back here. Even if I wasn't here it wouldn't be hard to find you." she frowned softly. "fine, I'll stop arguing."

Ryou kicked at the ground unhappily. He felt so powerless... As for Bakura, he merely glared daggers at the both of them.

"I just don't know for how long, he really irritates me." she sighed, "but I should tell you. You're going through a pretty extensive surgery. The only way I know it's going to work is because your body is being kept alive through some of my technology. If either of you possessed that body, it would have been unlikely." she looked away from both of them frowning

Both Bakura and Ryou didn't reply. Ryou sat next to Bakura, and Bakura put a hand on his head protectively.

A virtual screen appeared next to her as she clicked on a few things, "can you send me the info?" she asked and another screen popped up, closing the first she looked at it, her face tightening as she did. "it's not as bad as I had thought."

"Wha-" Ryou was cut off by Bakura. "What's the condition?" he hissed angrily.

"Stable. The surgery was successful, you had a minor tear in your heart, but it's been sealed, it's just going to take a couple of days to heal properly. Your lung was also torn open, but it's been replaced and everything else has been stitched up."

Bakura merely nodded. Ryou opened his mouth, but was cut off once again by Bakura. "Good."

Her eyes continued scanning the screen, "go ahead, if it speeds up the healing." she said to the screen. "Just make sure they're careful."  
>"Are you going to stay?" Seto asked.<br>"Yea, for a little while longer." she then shut off the screen sighing. "Everything's been taken care of, in a couple of days you both should be right as rain."

"Thank you so mu-" Bakura shoved Ryou's head down. "Yeah, whatever," he replied to her.

"You're welcome Ryou," she smiled. "Don't be so mean, he's just showing a little gratification. not like it would kill you if you tried."

"Don't try and lecture me," Bakura said angrily. Ryou looked up at Bakura, and Bakura locked eyes with him, narrowing his own.

"Alright." she said simply nodding lightly. "but this place is free roam, only Ryou can change the environment to his will. Anywhere, anytime, like I said he won't feel pain, at least not extensively, and he can't die, so don't even think about doing anything stupid. Oh, and I will be monitoring you so...yea."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "I'm not a child, girl. I can also get around that obstical easily." He smirked, then lifted Ryou up by an arm. "Ryou, let's go."

"Ass," she growled turning from them. "can't get away from me in here." she smiled looking at a screen as it appeared before her, showing a tracking program with two dots on it. "you're in my realm Bakura." she grinned and executed the program waking up in the hospital room with a grunt.


	11. Chapter 11

Bakura, in a child-like moment of thought, stuck his tongue out at her as she exited. Once she was gone though, he turned to grin darkly at Ryou. The boy shivered at his look and sat beside Bakura, both white-haired teens lost in thought for different reasons. 

Aura sighed sitting forward and removing the headset from her head and setting it aside, "what a glorified ass," she muttered standing. "I suppose a good nights rest is in order, I'll check up on them tomorrow." she left the room with another long sigh

Bakura turned to Ryou and murmured, "Why are you with her? She causes nothing but trouble and we both know that." The other white-haired boy stayed silent, knowing it would be the best option.

She returned home with Seto and laid down on the bed thinking. "Why do you keep helping that boy? Every time you're with him you end up hurt." Seto growled and she glanced over. "He's a friend, I help my friends."

Ryou finally decided to speak. "She's not that bad, Bakura. In fact, she's pretty similar to you... Would it kill you to get alo-" He was silenced when Bakura slapped his cheek roughly. Though it caused him no pain, the action itself shut Ryou up quickly.  
>"Perhaps it's the similarness of the two of us that makes it hard for me to see anything in her..." Bakura whispered almost mutely.<p>

"Listen, I'm just worried alright? Can we just go to sleep?" she asked rolling over so that she faced away from him and he sighed but agreed. She didn't sleep instead she tossed and turned all night until early morning when Seto's alarm started buzzing. 

Bakura and Ryou spent the entire night in silence. However, once they prepared to go to sleep, Bakura laid on the ground and Ryou balanced his head gently on the other male's chest. They were still asleep.

Aura was the first out of bed and sluggishly dressed, "school?" he asked like he did every day.  
>"It's saturday," she growled, "I'll be in the virtual world for most of the morning."<br>"You know it's not safe to stay in there for more than four or five hours."  
>"I know." she left the room heading straight for KaibaCorp.<p>

Still, Bakura and Ryou slept. Ryou was surprisingly comfortable so close to Bakura in the strange virtual world. It made him feel safer and he unconsciously moved closer to the white-haired man.

Once standing before the virtual pod she side rubbing her eyes, she looked like hell, she knew it. The tossing and turning worried about the two of them probably didn't help, she knew Bakura would make some sly remark and hopefully she wouldn't snap. Appearing in the virtual world she sighed watching them sleep, "shit," she cursed and walked away. /I'll let them sleep a bit longer/ she thought

Ryou was the first one to wake up. He stretched up high, then looked over at Bakura, smiling. He loved it when his darker half slept because his usual smirk was smoothed into a light frown and his glowing crimson eyes were out of sight.

Aura was not too far away laying back on a hill watching the clouds, "if I didn't know this place was fake I'd enjoy it a bit more." she sighed sitting upright, "still it's quiet serene here." thinking, looking at her arm, her duel disk appeared and she drew a card placing it down. A small dragon appeared and coed when it saw her moving close. Placing a hand on its snout she smiled and pet it, "I guess the sense enhancements worked, I can feel your scales."

Bakura finally woke up, and Ryou felt a pang of disappointment as he did so. The white-haired man stood, stretched, then turned to Ryou. "We're exploring," he said simply and walked off in a direction, Ryou close behind.

"Hmm, I wonder." she muttered drawing another card looking at it. Summoning it, a large Celestial Dragon appeared and she smiled looking up at it as it roared violently before lowered its head towards her pushing into her lightly, in a loving way. "cute," she chuckled petting it's snout.

Bakura came into the clearing where Aura was and frowned. He was about to turn back when Ryou called out, "Aura!"

The Dragon growled standing defensively towards the new people, "relax, they're friends," she said walking around the dragon and towards them. "Glad to see you're finally up."

Bakura only glared at her as Ryou ran over to the dragon, grinning. "He's so cute!" he said happily, not remotely intimidated.

She dragon lowered its head brushing into Ryou, coeing as it did so in a friendly gesture. "You can summon nearly anything here as long as you have your deck." she smiled pointing out her duel disk. "It's rather simple, and it makes everything a bit more interesting." she said trying to hide the fact that she was extremely tired.

Ryou grinned, wishing he had his deck on him even though it was much more sorted to Bakura's wants than his own. Bakura, however, pulled out his deck and smirked.

Aura didn't pay attention to Bakura, she wasn't in the mood to deal with him. She was way too tired to care. She came up beside Ryou and placed her hand on the dragons neck smiling, the enhancements were a huge improvement.

Bakura, surprisingly, handed the deck to Ryou. He murmured something in a quiet voice and Ryou positively beamed back at him. "Aura, what monster is that?" he asked.

She looked over at him, "Stardust Dragon, relatively new actually." she smiled brightly, "it was created to rival the Blue Eyes." she looked back at the dragon, "why do you ask?"

"Only curious," Ryou replied, sifting through his cards. "I wonder..."

She looked over at him, now curious, watching him shuffle through his cards.

Ryou finally picked out a card and smiled. It was one of the cards at the very bottom of his deck that was never used, but there to fill up a single space. "I summon Baby Dragon!" he said as the Baby Dragon appeared beside him happily.

She laughed, "there ya go!" she looked at the Baby Dragon and the first dragon she summoned came over sniffing his dragon. "look, how cute!" she giggled.

The Baby Dragon snapped playfully at Aura's dragon, then nipped at its tail. Ryou allowed a giggle to pass, while Bakura sat down and rolled his eyes.

Aura laughed watching them play, they ended up rolling in the grass and the stardust dragon watched, too big to play.

The Baby Dragon frowned, stood, and nudged the stardust dragon. He then began running around the larger dragon.

The large dragon watched the little one run around him and huffed slightly bending down the dragon knocked the little dragon over playfully and rolled him down the hill. Aura laughed watching them, "makes you wonder if they're like this in their realm, or just here."

Ryou nodded slowly. "I wonder about that a lot. What happens to them when they aren't dueling, that is."

She glanced up thinking, "If I recall correctly, they live peacefully in a realm existing side by side with this one. I think." she looked back down and watched the two small dragons pounce on the large one who fell back. The two small dragons then pranced around on top of it.

The baby dragon nipped at the larger dragon playfully, a smile on its face. "It's a nice thought," Ryou told Aura. "A really nice one..."

She giggled nodding, watching the dragons play. "I meant to ask," she looked over at Ryou, "although the both of you are detached from your body, how are you feeling?"

Bakura spoke this time. "Bored," he told her with a sigh.

She shot him a half-hearted glare, "not what I meant. Are you feeling any pain? Discomfort? Other than being bored?"

He opened his mouth to say something, reconsidered, and didn't speak. He shot Ryou a look and Ryou remained quiet as well.

"Whatever, I'm only trying to do you a favor, I'm asking out of your concern, not mine." she laid back in the grass. "I suppose you don't want the latest updates about your recovery, so whatever."

"Please, how is it going?" Ryou asked. Bakura meanwhile stood and stretched a bit.

"We've set you up in a rehabilitation tank, you'll heal almost three times as fast as you would outside of it. So far, everything looks good, and fine." she shut her eyes tightening her face. Enjoying the warmth on her skin. "If all goes well you should be back in your body by dinner tomorrow."

Ryou grinned merrily. "Good," Bakura said gruffly. "Is there anything to do in here by chance?"

"I told you the whole environment was changeable. You could do whatever you want, this is your own private world, locked away from the online system." she said her voice trailing off.

Bakura sighed, not really paying attention to her. "Yeah, yeah."

"Then don't complain to..." she trailed off taking a deep breath and fell asleep on the grass.

Ryou frowned and looked over her. "...Aura?"

She didn't respond, she breathed deep again a very slight smile appeared on her face.

"She was dead exhausted, wasn't it obvious?" Bakura told Ryou impatiently. The white-haired boy frowned and laid beside her.

/at least he's safe/ she thought sleeping peacefully. Even sleeping, she enjoyed the warm sun rays, though virtual, it was still pleasing.

Ryou found himself enjoying the sunlight too until Bakura griped his hand and dragged him to a standing position. "We're leaving," he said gruffly.

She shifted lightly, "Shut up Bakura," she growled in her sleep.

He completely ignored the sleeping figure and began dragging Ryou off. Ryou frowned, but followed Bakura, glancing behind his shoulder every now and then.


	12. Chapter 12

She woke up not too much longer later and sat up rubbing her eyes, "where the hell am I?" she thought looking around. /oh yea, virtual world/ she couldn't find either of the boys and sighed bringing up a virtual screen activating the tracker she had on them.

Both of them were a few miles off near a stream. By the way the dots were positioned, they were both swimming.

She re-summoned the stardust dragon and got on it as it took off into the sky, flying high, towards the stream

The white-haired boys had taken off their shirts to swim and both of them were surprisingly smiling. Ryou was splashing Bakura lightly and the older boy only chuckled darkly, dumping a huge bucket of ice water onto Ryou. On both boy's pale chests were cuts, scratches, knife marks, and stab wounds.

The dragon flew overhead of the stream and she glanced down, "I don't think we should bother them. We'll just keep an eye on them." the dragon hovered for a moment as she brought up the screen and clicked a few things. "Let them have their fun."

Bakura tackled Ryou and dragged him underwater, laughing evily. He did, however, lighten his grip so that Ryou could pop out of the water and turn to tackle Bakura back.

The dragon roared and she glared at it, "stay quiet alright?" shaking her head she removed the screen, "go land over there, I have a few things to test out while I'm here." the dragon roared again and she growled as the dragon landed on the opposite of the tree lines

Bakura froze, hearing a roar from above. "Aww, what's wrong 'Kura?" Ryou asked, and received a glare. "Not here," he hissed.

She landed just in front of a small town and sighed, "I hope to God Seto built some decent NPCs," she muttered and looked at the dragon, "stay here, and don't eat anything." she walked towards the town

"There's no one here," Ryou said. "Come on, I was having fun!" Bakura, however, got out of the water and mumbled, "Stay here," before walking away.

"No," she growled scratching her head, "command override, command list," she said and a screen popped up beside the NPC and she began moving things around. "Seto can't even program a character right!" she growled.

After a little bit of walking, Bakura found himself a few feet from Aura. He stood watching her.

She was cursing under her breath and shut the screen, "alright, take four." she muttered, "How much for the Niwatori?"  
>"1000 battle points."<br>"Thank you! Finally got it right!" she exclaimed then turned and saw Bakura standing there then rolled her eyes, "I left you alone, so what do you want now?" she asked moving around the counter

"Left me alone?" he asked, standing and coming over to her slowly.

"That's not what I meant, you two disappeared and I was going to find you, but I didn't." she rambled quickly then picked up one of the cards looking at it, inspecting it, anything then watch him.

He looked at her for a moment before, "You spied on us, didn't you?"

"No." she lied quickly then placed the card down turning from him to look at the others.

"Your lying is worse than Ryou's," Bakura said simply.

She looked at him, "I have no idea what you're talking about, really." she said standing upright.

He rolled his eyes, sighing before coming closer to her.

She narrowed her eyes on him, "if you're going to hurt me, don't bother, you couldn't kill me here even if you wanted too." she said a slight stutter in her voice as she watched him move closer

Bakura stopped. "Who said I was going to hurt you?"

She couldn't help but smile, "you've had it out to kill me since I met you, I only assumed." she looked away from him.

He bit his lip, then murmured, "I made a bet with Ryou."

Her eyes met with his, "a bet? May I ask what can off bet?" she asked politely resting back on the counter.  
>"Please do not lean on the counter." the NPC said and she shot him a glare.<br>"Shut down," she ordered and the NPC disappeared leaving them alone.

"With Ryou," he continued. "So I'm calling a truce of some sort until it ends." He leaned on the counter next to her.

She couldn't help but smile shaking her head, "alright, then I'll try and not be such a nuisance." she looked down.

Bakura followed her gaze. "I will tell you this now though. Don't you even think of doing anything to Ryou. If you do, I will snap your neck without a second thought."His voice was laced with an undertone of care, but masked with anger.

"What do you mean do? I don't have any intention of hurting him." she looked up at him.

His eyes only narrowed. "I've heard that before."

"Would I have saved either of you if I had any intention of harming him? He's my friend and I wouldn't wish anything bad on him, or you." she crossed her arms turning her head away.

Bakura glanced at her before turning his head away as well. "Thanks," he muttered after a long pause.

"Now that we're alone." she started, "may I ask again, why I stress you out? It's really be bothering me." she said with a soft chuckle.

He glared at her. "what do you mean?"

She shook her head, "never mind, forget I brought it up."

He took her hand, digging his nails into her flesh. "Tell me."

She winced, though she specifically turned down her pain levels she could still feel it. "Alright, Ryou passed out after your late night escapade and I brought him home, he said something in his sleep that you drink because you're stressed and that I was one of the reasons you get stressed."

He glared. "...Fuck," he murmured.

"sorry," she said gently.

"You... irritate me," Bakura replied slowly. "A lot."

"I'm sorry." she attempted to pull her hand away. "Really, I am."

"But are you truly..." he murmured coldly, his grip tightening.

She winced, "yes, I've always been nothing to a burden on you. And I truly am." she bowed suddenly closing her eyes.

His grip loosened suddenly and he bounded away from her.

Slowly she stood upright and turned to hide her face. "Back then I kept getting in the way, like a wayward child, true I stopped Seth from killing you once or twice, but I always got in the way." she moved towards the door.

Bakura stopped. "You do always get in the way."

She chuckled, "Yea, I'm good for that." she looked back at him a weird emotion running through her eyes, "once I get you back to your body I'll leave you alone, and Ryou." she glanced down, she didn't want too, but if it was for the best.

"You best," Bakura said lowly, then disappeared.

Once she was alone she slumped down in a nearby chair and cried, "it's for the best," she assured. "He's happy, right?" she looked toward the ground, "yea, happy."

Bakura met up with Ryou, who say his face and frowned. "What?"

She quickly wiped the tears away taking a deep breath, "no weakness." she stood and walked outside to her dragon with her head low. The dragon caught onto her emotion and coed worriedly nudging her with its snout

Ryou got out of the water, frowning. "What did you do?" Bakura didn't reply.

"We should leave," she said softly and the dragon backed away not allowing her to get on. "I'm not in the mood for games."

"What. Did. You. Do!" Ryou shouted again; He lept out of the water, running off to find Aura.

She dragon roared as if arguing with her. "If you don't fly me, I'm walking." she growled and the dragon growled. "Fine," she walked around the dragon and the dragon turned following her on all fours

Ryou continued searching for her. "AURA!"

Aura ignored the shout and continued walking the dragon however didn't. He wrapped a tail in front of her to stop her and she shot a glare back, "I'm not going back." she said and the dragon hissed

Ryou, running as fast as his legs could carry him, found Aura walking away. He screamed her name again.

Aura turned away from Ryou and the dragon hissed again moving in front of her then swiftly knocking her back so she landed by Ryou, "I swear to god when I get home you're card is being ripped to shreds." she growled looking at the dragon.

Ryou, in a bust of adrenaline, tackled Aura the moment he got close enough.

She fell back, "uh...Ryou..." she stuttered.

"Why did you ignore me?" he asked, tears falling down his cheeks. "Why? Why? Do you not like me? Are you leaving me here? F-Forever..." he ended at a whisper.

"I told Ba-" she stopped and wiped his tears away frowning, fighting her own tears. "I like you Ryou, I really do. And no, I'm not going to leave you here, I promise you that."

Ryou felt tears fall as he whispered, "Why can't you two get along?"

"I don't know," she said softly looking away. /I wish we could though/

"Please... Why can't you try?" Ryou murmured.

"It's not up to me," she chocked on the words still fighting tears /no weakness/ she thought and the dragon coed coming closer.

Ryou gripped her in a hug. "You don't need a poker face around me."

She smiled holding him close, as if this was the last time she'd see him, "yea I do, it was how I was raised." she whispered burying her head in his fluff of hair.

Ryou stoked her back tenderly. "Come on... I'm different."

She wanted to argue, but she couldn't and a coupe tears fell down the side of her face as she held him closer.

Ryou gripped her tighter. "It'll be okay..." he murmured into her ear.

/I wish everything was a simple as that Ryou/ she thought dropping her head

Ryou massaged her back wordlessly.

She backed her head away, /why hasn't Bakura pulled us apart? Surely he's watching his Hikari/ she thought looking at Ryou, the brushed more of his tears away

Ryou leaned back slightly, and smiled lightly. "I don't like it when you frown," he told her simply.

She forced a smile, "I'm sorry." and wiped her tears away.

"Don't be," he told her. "Why would you be? I should be sorry for letting Bakura go away... did he make you sad?"

Her smile faded for a moment, "no, he didn't, he's fine." she looked back at him smiling brighter

"Are you sure?" Ryou asked her slowly. 'He better not have...'

She nodded, "I'm sure about it, we only spoke briefly, and he didn't do anything. Trust me." she ruffled his hair lightly.

Ryou nodded, hugging her suddenly. 'Good..'

She smiled and hugged him back, at least she couldn't see through her like Bakura did. She then realized they were still on the ground, "Should we get up, what if Bakura see's us like this?" she asked just barely above a whisper, she was happy where they were but with him around she wasn't too cautious

Ryou sighed. "He's already here, Aura. Maybe a mile away or so I'm guessing to be exact. It's part of our... Bet."

"Yea, but he's not watching us, right?" she smiled reassuringly then thought, "and what bet?" she asked, acting like she hadn't just spoken to Bakura about it.

"Well, I... Uh... It's a long story," he lied.

She chuckled, "that's alright, we have time."

Ryou sighed. "Well... It's more of a threat than a bet, but still."

"Wait threat?" she looked at him, "did you threaten him or..." she looked off towards the woods.

Ryou giggled. "You could say that..."

"What did you say to him?" she asked with a chuckle

Ryou blushed. "I, uh, told him I wouldn't say anything about it..."

She grumbled, "alright, I won't push you any more about it." the dragon laid down curling around the two of them but she hadn't noticed

However, Ryou giggled and said, "Promise you won't mention a thing to Bakura? Not a peep?"

She gave him a firm nod, "promise."

"Well, Bakura is kind of... Haunted. Every night when he sleeps... He sees the destruction of his village. It wakes him up screaming every night in his soul room," Ryou paused, frowning. "So... I started sleeping with him in his room. It seems to calm him. However, I told him I'd leave if he continued treating you so poorly..."

She was at a loss for words staring at Ryou, /I never expected that of Bakura/ she thought and looked away from Ryou, "Kul Elna," she muttered softly. "I was too young to understand or know about it then but it was a massacre, it's good to know you can comfort him." she smiled, /I wish there was something I could do, but it seems Ryou is handling it fine./

Ryou nodded slowly, his head down. "His screams... It was so raw, so desperate, so... Alone."

She flinched slightly as if she had been hurt, "Back then, I wanted nothing more than to be able too..." she trailed off lost in her thoughts then hugged Ryou closer.

Ryou smiled partially, and allowed the hug. "He's just so..."

She dropped her head to his shoulder and closed her eyes, "I know." she whispered.

It was at that moment that Bakura came into the clearing and saw them together. "RYOU," he hissed and the boy shot up, frowning. "Here, now." Ryou complied.

Aura didn't say anything, only sat up a bit so she could lean against the dragon looking away, feeling cold all of a sudden.

Bakura glared at Aura. "Keep away from Ryou," he hissed. The protectiveness, though hazy before, was now clearly evident.

"Yea, yea, I know." she sighed keeping her head away from the pair, and the dragon growled at Bakura raising its head from the ground

Bakura hissed back at it, his eyes narrowed. Ryou only frowned.

"Relax," she said to the dragon, standing and resting a hand on the top of its head, "don't waste your energy."

Bakura took a step forward, but Ryou took his hand and tried to pull it back. Bakura glared at Aura. "I thought you were leaving," he hissed.

She studied him for a moment, wanting to argue, instead she only bowed her head, "yea, I am." she looked at the dragon, "let's go, we have more tests to complete and only." she glanced at her watch, "a half an hour before I need to get out of here."

Ryou opened his mouth, but Bakura cut him off. "Go."

She shot him a glare, "I'm sorry since when were you allowed to boss me in my own world. You're lucky you're even alive you ungrateful prick." she hissed getting onto the dragon.

Ryou frowned and, for the first time, glared at her. "Aura! That wasn't nice!" He then turned to Bakura. "You too!"

She looked away from him to the dragon, "I'm not arguing." she looked over at Ryou, "the reason I ignored you was because I promised Bakura I would never see you again. So, as soon as I get you back in your body I'll stop talking to you, as per his request. Don't think for a second it's anything I want to do but for him, I will." the dragon growled. "let's go." she spread her wings and shot into the air

Ryou frowned, tears stinging his eyes. Bakura walked away slowly, leaving Ryou all alone with his tears.

"That arrogant ass," she growled and the dragon looked back landing suddenly, not getting far at all, "what the hell do you think you're doing?" she jumped off, "I'm sick of you fighting with me, can't nothing just be good for once!" she screamed and walked off in a fit.

Ryou wept silently, wishing desperately that someone would come to cheer him up, but knew that wouldn't happen. He was alone.

She growled, "fine, I'm done." the environment changed suddenly, not caring, "you want to fight, fine, we'll fight, but you're going to lose!" there was a violent roar that shook the land and the dragon looked around. "yea, I did." she said stubbornly. "shit...I did." 

Ryou looked up, scared as the environment around him began to shift. "What the...?"

"God, I'm stupid, why do I let my anger get the best of me?" she sighed and drew two more cards, "Fuse my dragon with two more, come forth Ultimate Celestial Dragon," the large dragon took form where the first dragon was and there was another loud roar, shaking the ground, "so either I just called forth the leviathan or the God Dragon."

Ryou watched the ground shake, his fear at its peak. "What's going on!"

Aura turned and started running as the ground began cracking "shit, shit, shit," she growled trying to shut down the program. Then saw Ryou, "Bakura can be pissed later." she mumbled to herself, "Ryou who has your deck you or him?" she asked running up to him out of breath

Ryou looked up at her, eyes wide with pure fear. "B-Bakura," he spluttered.

"Ok, you need to find him, and stay with him. Until I can shut down this god forsaken program." she cursed and there was another roar. "I gotta keep my mouth shut," she sighed and the dragon she fused hovered behind her. "Protect Ryou but help him find his partner."

Ryou just stared at her. "What's g-going on...?"

"I was pissed and started program to get back at my dragon, but I forgot the program can only be shut down by defeating the boss." she chuckles and the dragon lowered to her side. "get on her, find Bakura, use my dragon as protection, she's pretty powerful so you should be fine."

Ryou shook his head stubbornly. "I'm not leaving you."

"I'll be fine Ryou, please, for me." she said giving him a hard look, "once you find him we'll meet back up, alright?"

Ryou stayed planted to the spot.

"I'm not giving you a choice Ryou," she glanced at the dragon who pushed its head under Ryou lifting him up onto its neck, "find Bakura." she summoned a smaller dragon and shot off into the sky as the Celestial Dragon took off towards Bakura.

Ryou frowned, but watched her go.

/I won't let you get hurt/ she thought and the dragon dived low, "good at least it's just the five headed dragon and nothing too serious." she sighed. /I could use help but I highly doubt Bakura will, so I guess it's up to me./ the dragon landed not far from the monster dragon and she took a deep breath

Bakura, meanwhile, was sitting by the stream he had been at before. He was deeply lost in thought, and hadn't even noticed the rumbling.

"How the hell am I supposed to do this without my Celestial Dragon?" she cursed, "I didn't think this out." an attack hit her small dragon and she growled in pain watching her life points drop, "one more attack like that and I'm out." she drew a card, "I hope this works for now, sword of revealing light."

Bakura looked up lazily to see a dragon overhead. He ignored it, figuring Aura summoned it

"I have got to be the dumbest person alive," she grunted sitting up from the ground just after an attack. "Really?" she forced herself onto her feet and looked at her deck

Bakura glanced up once more, bored.

"Alright," she drew a card. "Palace Defender, defense." she said and a large shield appeared blocking an attack that was aimed for her.

Bakura called up, "Aura?"

She was running now, "damn!" she fell face first as an attack exploded behind her. "hurry up Ryou I need that dragon!" she said spitting blood to the ground.

Ryou came almost at once, gripping onto the dragon for dear life. "ARRRAGGH!" he screamed as the dragon stopped suddenly in front of Aura.

"Oh thank god!" she sighed standing upright, "you find Bakura?" she asked offering her hand to help him down.

He shook his head. "I have no clue where he could be..."

"Alright, well stand back, cause I need to finish this." she said drawing a card, /hopefully my dragon will be strong enough to beat it on its own./

Ryou nodded slowly.

Aura raised a card into the air increasing the attack of her celestial dragon and the two dragons attacked one another creating a large explosion

Ryou jumped with shock. "Woah!"

Both of the dragons disappeared and she fell to a knee, "well that's new." she muttered grunting in pain. /so the pain limiter can only take so much before it activates again/ she thought holding onto her side.

Ryou rushed over to her, frowning. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, "yea, peachy." she lied "let's just say thank God this is virtual." she spit out some blood again and forced herself to her feet. "let's just get you back to Bakura." she summoned a small dragon and got on it, it was clear she was in pain and trying to hide it.


	13. Chapter 13

"Aura..." Ryou murmured. "You're hurt..."

"I'm fine," she said quickly, "get on so I can get you back before I have to leave." she said looking at her watch, she had minutes left.

Ryou hopped on, still frowning.

The dragon took off and she didn't let go of her side, every twist of the dragon sent her face in a spasm of pain. In a moment the dragon landed behind Bakura and she didn't say anything to either of them, only cursed under her breath. Either her timer was going to run out or she was going to pass out.

Ryou ran over to Bakura, but stopped before he reached him. "Bakura," he murmured and his head shot up to look at Ryou. "What?" Then he noticed Aura.

She dropped her head, /the pain limiters should have taken care of this, it must be a bug/ she thought grunted, finding she now had a problem staying on the dragon.

Bakura had walked over and was now lifting her back onto the dragon. "You look pathetic," he murmured, but held her back so that she wouldn't slide off. Ryou felt himself smiling.

She chuckled wiping blood off her lip, "yea well, you get hit a couple times from a big dragon." she chuckled then shook in pain. "damn," she brought up the screen like she always did but couldn't keep her hand up long enough to access what she needed to. /If I pass out here, I'll be stuck here for a while/ she thought

Bakura lifted her to a seated position and held her hand gently. "What do you need to press?" he asked in a murmur.

"Command control, upper left hand corner, then." she was getting dizzy, "then it'll ask you for a password."

Bakura nodded, and then pressed the button. "You need to type in the password," he told her.

She chuckled, "don't hate me." she reached forward and slowly began typing a name into screen. She managed to spell about half the name before her hand slipped from the screen and she fell into him passing out.

Bakura groaned, shaking her slightly. "Wake up, Ra dammit!" he hissed. Then, growing desperate to get out, he leaned down and placed his lips onto hers.

Aura grumbled feeling something against her, something warm, something soft. /what.../ her mind rang and slowly her eyes parted to find Bakura kissing her, she didn't move for a moment, then slowly backed her head a bit grunting.

Bakura finally lifted and spat on the ground. "Tastes like shattered dreams and neglect..." he murmured, then looked to see if she was conscious.

She laid against him in a daze, barely awake, barely aware. "Shut it..." her words mumbled barely recognizable. /for someone so cold, he's warm/ she thought.

"Tell me the rest of the password," he muttered, his hand poised over the controls. "Hurry."

"My timers up." she muttered, "it's your name, Thief." she slurred, turning her head into him subconsciously, /smells musky/

Bakura looked at her for a moment before deleting what she had and entering his name.

Raising her finger she barely had enough strength to place it on the scanner, or enough strength for it to read, but it managed. "my head hurts," she growled. "um, I can't remember..." she closed her eyes thinking.

Bakura took her head in his hands and forced her eyes to lock in his. "Remember then," he said in low tone.

She looked at him for a moment, then closed her eyes, "there's a folder, named access control, inside another named pain limiter, make sure it's on low or N/A."

Bakura nodded and set to work quickly. "It's on high," he said aloud.

She cursed something in the ancient language and sighed, "mind turning it down for me?"

"I could turn it up," he said, but turned it down to 'Low'.

She smiled, "you could." she felt the pain ease and she took a deep breath, still weak, but she rose her duel disk and looked at it, only 200 life points. For a moment she didn't move, she felt safe and content leaning against Bakura and found herself blushing lightly. "Thanks." she forced herself from him and off the dragon, stumbling, still too weak on her knees.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever," But had the thinnest layer of red over his cheeks. Ryou, meanwhile, was grinning.

She attemped to make it to the water but ended up sitting on the grass instead, "I just need to rest," she muttered and glanced at the clock, /it has another hour, how?/ she thought but grunted shaking her head. /whatever I'll leave sooner than that I don't want to be in anyone's hair./

Bakura sat beside her, bored now. Ryou, still grinning, walked off.

She half expected to see Ryou sitting next to her but finding Bakura there she smiled looking away. Closing her eyes she bumped shoulders and pulled away, "sorry."

Bakura sighed. "Yeah, sure," he replied. He leaned down and stuck his head into the stream.

She watched him then grinned, with what strength she had she pushed him into the water laughing.

Bakura fell in, then came up a minute later glaring. His eyes seemed to glow crimson as he grabbed her leg and dragged her in as well.

She didn't have enough time to react before she was submerged, coming back up for air she find herself laughing.

Another laugh filled the air, one that was calm and airy. It could have been Ryou's, had it not come from Bakura's lips. He splashed her face, smirking.

She laughed and splashed him in return with her feet as she swam away from him.

Bakura suddenly dived underwater, his presence seeming to disappear completely.

She froze looking around, turning one way or another, "um...Bakura?" she muttered

Suddenly, a hand gripped her leg and dragged her under.

Being pulled under suddenly, she attempted to let out a scream only to have her mouth fill with water. She attempted to scramble towards the surface for air, still smiling

The hand released her and Bakura popped out of the water, his hair down and covering most of his face. He chuckled.

She came to the surface coughing and gasping for air, all while laughing, when she controlled her breathing she turned towards him then grinned. Then she pounced on him pushing him under the water.

Bakura let out a slight gasp as he fell under. Grinning underwater, he licked her face and released a thin stream of bubbles as he did so.

She giggled though underwater and was surprised by his action she turned to look at them as they made it to the surface and found they were close and she blushed, finding she couldn't unwrap her arms from around him.

Bakura looked at her, frowning. "Can't keep your arms off of me, huh?" he whispered in amusement.

Her blush darkened and she pulled away from him turning suddenly, "sorry I just...uh...um." she grumbled trying to think of an excuse but couldn't come up with one.

Bakura laughed, then dove underwater once again.

"Bakura, I.." she turned around to face him but he was gone. "Shit..." she muttered.

He popped up a few feet away, stretching up in the air. It was then that he took his shirt off because it was annoying him in the water.

She found herself blushing again and looked away. Swimming towards the dragon she hopped out and sat on the edge removing her jacket and shoes the placed her feet back in the water.

Bakura then took off his pants, leaving him in his boxers before he got back into the water and floated on his back.

She watched him unaware that she was smiling. She stood from the water and turned around removing the shirt she was wearing forgetting about the marks and scars on her back.

Bakura looked over and murmured, "You got something on your back..." Though he couldn't exactly be talking, because his muscular chest was covered in cuts, stab wounds, and bruises as well.

She looked away thinking then smiled. "You're not the only one with a troubled past." She looked at him then removed her skirt

He shrugged. "Never said I was," he replied simply, floating towards her.

"I know sorry I get defensive." She moved back into the water and leaned against the side smiling

Bakura shrugged. "I don't care," he told her, swimming about a foot from her.

"I know." Smiling she dipped down into the water so only her eyes were up and shut her eyes

Bakura sat beside her, watching her. He blew a few bubbles.

Opening her eyes she sat up and looked over before leaning into him and sinking further

Bakura looked a tad uncomfortable, but didn't move. He put a hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

She couldn't help but smile enjoying his warmth not realizing she moved closer to him.

Bakura looked up at her, frowning slightly. "Are you coming onto me?" he asked bluntly.

"What if I say yes?" She chuckled. She sat upright abruptly realizing what she said. "Um sorry I didn't..."

Bakura just stared at her, no emotion on his face. 

She looked down frowning. "Sorry." She repeated and swam from him.

"Why would you be coming onto me?" Bakura asked her, no emotion in his tone.

"Can I tell you a secret about us back in Egypt? If you don't care that's fine too."

He shrugged, moving away from her and treading in the water. "Sure."

She was silent thinking "I really admired you and I would have given anything to spend a day with you" she muttered refusing to look up at him.

Now he was just plain confused until realization dawned on him, "You're trying to use me, aren't you?" he asked her.

"Use you?" She looked up "for what?"

"Anything," he replied. "To get to Ryou perhaps; it's not going to work."

"Forget I mentioned it." She hissed. "I have no intention of using you or Ryou I care for both of you and..." She trailed off.

"That's a lie," Bakura said simply. "I already know it, so don't bother."

"You're wrong!" She yelled "you're wrong" she whispered, "God why did I have to open my mouth?"

"Why do you bother lying? I already told you, I can see straight through it." He got out of the water, and then let his feet splash slightly.

She growled and followed him not spinning him around to face her. "I'm not." She said sternly

"I'm serious, stop it," he hissed suddenly. His eyes glowed red as they narrowed.

"You're so full of it. Once you set your mind its set whether you believe the truth or not. God you're worse than Seto!" She pushed past him bumping shoulders then frowned sitting against the dragon

Bakura didn't respond to her. He instead closed his eyes. "If I wasn't in this virtual world, I would be gone," he murmured.

"I know cause you're a coward. You always hide away instead of facing your problems."

He turned to glare at her. "Shut the fuck up."

"Truth stings." She sighed "and of course I ruin everything with my big mouth."

"You can say that again," Bakura hissed. "At least I know when to keep my damn mouth shut!"

"You're right I'm sorry." She stood then stretched. Walking over to him she stopped beside him. "I don't care what you say. I wasn't lying I refuse to lie."

"But why would you care about me in any way?" he said slowly. "I'm trying to kill you."

"I cared for you in Egypt and that carried over to today." She closed her eyes.

"Aren't you with Kaiba?" he asked.

She nodded "yea but he cares more about Kisara then he ever did about me. Even now, I was just a rebound. He was forced to marry me for the throne."

"That's depressing," Bakura replied.

She rolled her eyes "tell me about it." She frowned, "even now he talks about Kisara. It's always her!" She yelled suddenly

Bakura put a hand on her shoulder. "Calm yourself," he replied evenly.

"Why should I? I've never been good enough for anyone not him not you no one!" She pushed his hand off and jumped into the water submerging herself and not coming up

Bakura sighed heavily, then spoke. "If you don't calm down, you'll never be good enough for me because you'll be dead."

She came up from the water and looked at him. "Like I'd be good alive, You'd rather like me dead anyway."

"I'd like you dead if you keep speaking like this," he replied heatedly. "It annoys me. Stop acting so pathetic."

She scoffed and turned from relaxing in the water. "This would be better if it was hot." She sighed to herself

"Well, make it hot then."

She looked at him confused "oh yea." The water started bubbling and she smiled resting against the edge with her back on him. /relaxing./

Bakura stiffened slightly, then relaxed as well.

She breathed deeply smiling. "Takes the edge off," She said to herself and wanted to say something to him but decided not to ruin the mood

Bakura's eyes closed as he got in a bit deeper into the water. "Like Ry-" He stopped himself.

She looked over at him smiling. /I know what you mean./ she thought closing her eyes.

'Like Ryou's soul room...' he thought to himself. He kept his eyes shut.

She looked over at him watching him intently. /I wish I could prove to him how serious I am. That I wasn't lying./

Bakura blew a few bubbles under the water, smiling lightly.

Still she watched him smiling softly. "Thanks" she muttered softly not caring if he heard or not before dropping under the water and submerging herself

Bakura got out of the water, and stretched. He dried his hair out and sat by the water's edge.

When she came back up she took a deep breath and noticed he had gotten out. The water stopped bubbling and became cool. Raising her arm she looked at her duel disk noticing that her life points had gone up a bit

"Feeling better?" he asked her, laying out on the grass comfortably.

"A bit though I've got a terrible headache " she said hopping out and sitting on the edge

"It'll pass," he murmured. "Headaches always do."

"Unfortunately this one will only get worse." She sighed standing and grabbing her clothes. She dried off and began dressing. "You can change the environment to however you please. Just think it and do."

Bakura thought slowly before closing his eyes. The scenery changed and revealed the living room of his and Ryou's house.

She glanced around and smiled. "I have to go check up on your body. I've been here for too long. I'll be back later this evening."

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah."

She chuckled shaking her head. "You know you'll miss me." She winked. "Catch ya later Kura." She boldly said before disappearing and waking up in the virtual pod.

He pretended to gag, then rolled his eyes. "That girl..."


	14. Chapter 14

"Have fun?" Seto asked as she stood and she nodded. "You were in there two hours longer than safe."  
>"I know." She sighed walking out of the room and heading to the hospital with a horrible headache.<p>

Bakura stretched out on his couch and fell asleep soundly. 'What is it about that girl...?'

She spent the next couple of hours in the hospital running scans and diagnostics before sitting down with the virtual headset. With a sigh she set it on a private network and entered the realm standing inside the house looking at Bakura who was sleeping.

Ryou was beside him, also sleeping. In their unconscious state, they looked identical minus the hair.

She smiled. "Always while they're sleeping." She walked from the room and sat at the dining room table opening up the virtual screen and messing around with random stuff

Ryou woke up first, his hair messy from sleeping so that it stuck up like Bakura's. He walked into the room, "Aura."

She glanced over and smiled. "Hey."

"What's up?" he asked, sitting across from her. He rubbed at his eyes and they tinted red because of that.

"Nothing just checking up on you two." She smiled and looked away. "Hey can we forget everything that happened at the stream?" She said thinking it was Bakura

Ryou, confused, decided to play along. "Which part?"

"Well you know when I tried to um..." She trailed off. "Just everything, everything I said everything I did."

Ryou's interest was now peaked, though he masked it well under a smirk so similar to Bakura's it was scary. "You're going to have to be more specific."

"When I tried kissing you and when we kind of relaxed together in the water." She blushed looking away.

Ryou's act died at one. "YOU WHAT!" he shrieked at an ear splitting volume.

She flinched. "Oh Jesus you're not...but you looked like; oh hell."

Ryou's face was twisted in shock and horror. "You... What?" he said again, slower this time. He suddenly pounded at the table.

"Ryou um..." She blushed madly. "I um have work to do over um..." she stood shutting off the screen

"Aura," he hissed, looking furious. "how-" He was cut off by a loud moan. "Uggghhh! That was a great sleep!" Bakura announced from the other room.

"Shit" she looked over her shoulder. "Don't tell him please!" She begged whispering

"BAKURA!" Ryou screamed. The other white-haired boy walked in, his hair pressed down so that he looked almost identical to how Ryou usually looked. "Yeah? What's going on?"

She flinched. "Fuck." She whispered under her breath

Ryou glared daggers at Bakura who looked confused. "You... How dare you..." Ryou went up to slap Bakura when Bakura twisted his arm back and shoved him to the ground. "The fuck is going on?" he asked in annoyance.

"Stop it! Shit I'm sorry alright!" She yelled then looked down frowning. "I'm leaving." She slammed down a paper with all the info regarding their body.

Bakura called out "Wait!" while Ryou tried to get up. "YOU BASTARD!" he yelled at Bakura.

"It wasn't him Ryou. It was me I did it not him. Be mad at me not him." She stopped by the door bout to start crying

"I'm mad at him because I knew this would happen!" Ryou yelled. "You bloody pervert, trying to hit on my friend!" Bakura kicked his thigh, forcing Ryou to the ground. "Shut up."

"Stop it. Stop it. Stop it!" She yelled. "Ryou please," She cried covering her face

Ryou looked up at her and frowned. Bakura used the chance to nail Ryou in the face, sending him into an unconscious state.

"Ryou." She yelled running to the both of them. "I'm sorry I didn't mean for this."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Ryou's a pain," he said simply.

"I'm sorry." She said again then kept repeating it crying

Bakura, growing annoyed, slapped her. "Cut it out with the waterworks," he told her. "They're pathetic."

She was shocked but nodded slowly keeping her head down. "Move." She pushed him off Ryou then picked him up laying him on the couch. Bringing up a screen above Ryou she began to scan checking him out

Ryou's body was completely unconscious and his breathing was rapidly decreasing. Bakura hovered over Ryou slightly.

"God damn it Bakura." She said and his body was covered in a faint green light. "He'll be okay but it's dangerous to do this when he's locked here."

Bakura bit his lip for a moment, and in that moment a flicker of worry passed his eyes. It ended just as soon as it started and he crossed his arms. "Whatever, he'll be fine."

"I just said that." She muttered turning and sitting on the ground leaning on the couch. The screen stayed up over Ryou

Bakura sat beside Ryou, watching him carefully.

She pulled her knees up to her chest wrapping her arms around them and dropping her head.

"Ra, Ryou..." Bakura murmured, unaware that he was speaking aloud, "You have to stop this obsession..."

"Obsession?" She muttered looking over at him.

Bakura glanced over at her, frowning. "Nothing."

"Alright." She said looking away. "I'm sorry Ryou attacked you like that I thought it was you and I told him I was sorry about earlier."

Bakura only sighed. "He would have figured out eventually... And Aura, you might as well know. I'm not a doctor or anything, but I feel like Ryou..." He sighed again.

She looked over at him, "feel like him? I don't get it."

"No! I feel like Ryou has..." Bakura trailed off once more.

"You're gonna need to be more specific."

"I think Ryou has Stockholm syndrome," Bakura said finally.

"Stockholm syndrome," She looked away thinking. "I don't know what that is."

Bakura frowned. "Stockholm Syndrome is a term used to describe a paradoxical psychological phenomenon where hostages express positive feelings towards their captors, sometimes to the point of defending them. These feelings are generally considered irrational in light of the danger or risk endured by the victims, who essentially mistake a lack of abuse from their captors for an act of kindness," he told her slowly.

"Oh." she said simply. "Then I'm sorry for intervening. I'm sorry for opening my mouth. I mean is there anything I can do?"

Bakura shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure. I've noticed the pattern for a while now, but I'm not quite sure what to do about it..."

"I feel like this is my entire fault. The abuse, the stabbing the hate, I'm such a nuisance. No good." She looked away.

"If you begin down a pathetic road again, I'll slap you," he told her, frowning.

"Sorry, if you haven't noticed I hate everything about me." She smiled at him. "I'll leave you two like I promised once I get you guys safely in your body."

Bakura slapped Aura's cheek roughly, leaving a huge red mark. "I hate this new you," he told her. "I liked you more when you fought back and didn't lay down for me to step on you so easily. In fact," he said, his eyes narrowing. "You're like dealing with a second host!"

She was shocked and held her cheek looking over at him. "I'm sorry I just kind of gave up fighting with you. I was more worried about you two getting better than us arguing."

He sighed. "You irritate me sometimes..." Bakura muttered. "Leave my issues with Ryou out of your thoughts."

"That's not happening." She smiled rubbing her cheek. "So deal with it."

He rolled his eyes. "What I do with Ryou is none of your concern."

"Too bad it is." She grinned and looked back at Ryou.

"Ryou is my property, and therefore my problem," Bakura told her. "He's mine."

"I'm happy for you, really I am but he's my friend and I'm going to worry. Stop arguing cause you're not going to win."

He glared at her, but said nothing. Slowly, he leaned onto Ryou, his eyes closing.

She smiled triumphantly and stood looking towards Ryou before shutting down the screen. Walking to the table she picked up the paper she slammed down and handed it to Bakura. "This is everything about your body if it's not clear I can explain it."

Bakura, however, was fast asleep on top of Ryou, his facial expression relaxing almost at once. 

She sighed and sat on the ground against the couch. "Suppose a catnap wouldn't hurt." She sighed and fell asleep. Within a couple of minutes she leaned against Bakuras legs fast asleep.

Bakura woke up slowly, and looked over at Aura against his leg. "Can't keep your hands off of me..." he murmured in amusement.

Her face tightened in an unpleasant dream and she whispered something inaudible.

Bakura leaned down, laying his head on hers. 'Wonder what she's dreaming...'

She started mumbling, "stop hurting..." more inaudible murmurs, "thief...father don't..." more muttled word.

He sighed then shook her lightly. "Get up."

Her eyes opened and she looked around confused, "wait…where am I?" she thought. "Oh, yea." she glanced back at Bakura, "sorry I must have dozed off."

"You were-" He frowned. "Never mind, is my body ready yet?" he asked to change the subject.

"Umm." she rubbed her eyes then with a yawn pulled up a screen looking at it, "it will be in about an hour or two."

"Ra, this is taking so long..." Bakura murmured. "Isn't there a way to speed it up?"

"Hey, if it wasn't for me you'd be here for a couple of weeks, be glad it's only a couple of days." she slumped against the couch and yawned again. /God I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since he stabbed himself/

"Why are you here?" he asked suddenly. "It's clear you're overtired."

She smiled, "not like you'd believe me if I told you."

"Ryou will be around plenty after I'm returned to the body," he replied.

"I know." she crossed her arms turning her head away from him.

"Get some sleep," he told her slowly. "You need it."

"I'll be fine," she sighed. "I'm used to not sleeping for days sometimes, I'm just kinda relaxed." she smiled to herself.

He crossed his arms. "Whatever then," Standing, he made his way to the kitchen.

She sat there and sigh as soon as he left running her hand through her hair. "What a horrible dream," she whispered to herself and looked over at Ryou who was still passed out on the couch.

Ryou snored peacefully, a smile dancing on his lips.

She chuckled watching him running a scan like she did the night before. "At least he's sleeping peacefully now." she yawned then forced herself to her feet. "Coffee would be divine right now."

As if answering her whim, Bakura called out, "How do you like your coffee?"

She looked over shocked, "light cream, light sugar." she responded.

"Black it is," he replied, coming in with three mugs.

She chuckled shaking her head, not really caring how her coffee was, it would only keep her awake mentally for a little while; add some extra time to the timer. "Thanks."

"Yeah, yeah," He took his coffee and, smirking, dumped it on Ryou. Ryou shrieked bloody murder.

She didn't want too but she chuckled, "can't say I've ever seen coffee used like that." she sat down away from them and wondered if Ryou was still upset at her.

Ryou, growling, glared at the two before standing and leaving the room. "Prissy bitch!" Bakura called after him.

She shook her head smiling sipping her coffee looking away from the two of them knowing there was no point in interjecting between the two of them.

"Shut the hell up!" Ryou called back causing Bakura to chuckle. "Make me!"

"You guys act like children," she smiled looking out the nearby window

Bakura frowned almost to the point of pouting. "It's all Ryou."

Chuckling she shook her head, "I'll leave you to your lover, I have to run into town and check on the NPCs or else Seto will have my head...again." she set the cup down and stood with a slight frown

"...Lover?"

Her eyes met his, "yes, your lover." she winked and headed towards the door, "take care of him while I'm gone k? I don't want to have to fix anymore of your mess." she brushed by him.

"I don't love him!" Bakura yelled angrily. "And fix 'my' mess!"

She stopped and looked back at him, "yea cause if I recall correctly Ryou wasn't the one who stabbed himself and nearly died."

Bakura crossed his arms. "It was his fault."

She waived him off, "sure, sure whatever." then turned and opened the door. "I'll be just down the street." she said giving him once last glance before shutting the door behind her.

Bakura sighed, kicking at the coffee mug on the floor. "He told me to go die, so I tried to give him what he wanted..." he said to himself.

She stepped down the steps and shoved her hands in her pocket, not having any intention of actually working she just felt like a burden. Only taking a couple of steps away a screen appeared beside her and she stopped walking looking at it. "In there again?" Seto growled and she nodded, as quickly as he appeared an argument rose.

Ryou, who had been sulking, overheard them arguing.

"Just enough alright?" she yelled suddenly and silence fell around her. "Leave me alone, I'm done having you nit pic and dragging me down with every step I take. I'll talk to you when I get home." she closed the feed and growled under her breath.

Ryou held his breath, hoping she wouldn't notice him listening in on their conversation. 'Please...'

She screamed a frustrated yell and messed with her hair, "that arrogant self-loathing selfish..." she ranted and froze looking around, /am I being watched?/

Ryou's breath hitched. 'Shitshitshitshitshit...'

Her eyes met Ryou's and she eased lowering her arms. As soon as her eyes met him she frowned turning her head away and continued walking down the street with her hands deep in her pockets. /it's not his problem, don't be mad at him/ she thought and her pace quickened.

Ryou, thinking he was to have a heart attack, followed her. "Aura."

She looked over at him, "how you feeling Ryou?" she asked

"Better..." He answered slowly. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," she huffed looking away from him.

"It's obvious you're not..." Ryou murmured. "You're upset."

She stopped walking and looked away from him. "Why would I be upset? I have nothing to be upset about." her hand tightened in her pocket.

"You and Seto," Ryou finally replied, being honest. "I heard you two talking..."

"Oh that?" she shrugged, "just one of our daily arguments. I'm fine, I'm used to it."

"Lovers shouldn't argue daily..."

She was silent for a moment looking away, "just like in Egypt our marriage was arranged at first. We were together but didn't want to be, we ended up falling in love because we had no real choice. I think the only reason he's with me now is because Kisara doesn't exist in this era."

"So you're satisfied being second place?" Ryou asked her slowly.

"No, but what choice do I have? I mean I do love him, but..." She trailed off. "I just don't know anymore."

"Because you think you have feelings for... For Bakura?" He spat the last part, a frown creasing his lips.

She blushed, "I don't know Ryou."

'You better not,' Ryou wanted to say, but instead said, "How can you be unsure?"

"Because I'm stepping on toes, I'd rather live alone loveless than lose a dear friend," she turned away from him a bit.

Ryou bit his lip. "I see..."

"Ryou, I'm sorry, I promised Bakura yesterday that once I get you two back into your body I'll leave from your life. It's obvious that you don't want me with Bakura and Bakura doesn't want me with you so I intend on leaving."

"But I don't want you to leave..." Ryou muttered, biting his lip. "Besides, Bakura... He doesn't have feelings like that..."

She didn't respond, /maybe he's right, maybe I'm fooling myself./ she thought. "I know," she finally said

"Then you shouldn't have feelings for him," Ryou reasoned.

"Easier said than done I'm afraid, my feelings for him are older than either of us." she muttered then shook her head, "I don't want to talk about this anymore, it's of no issue. I'll be outta both of your lives in about two hours." she started walking again.

Ryou gripped her arm painfully tight. "Bakura doesn't like you, let alone love you let alone love anyone," he said lowly. "So don't focus on him."

She flinched and looked back at him, "you don't think I know that?" she growled ripping her arm away. "You don't think I realized that when I lived in Egypt? That I was bound to the life I live and nothing was going to change that?"

Ryou frowned, wondering what was coming over him. It was unlike him to act so rude. "I'm sorry..."

"Just drop it, like I said it won't matter in less than two hours. Go back to him, I have work to do." she said angrily and started walking off again

"Stop trying to walk away from your problems!" Ryou screamed suddenly, an out of character feeling seizing him. "You're just as bad as Bakura! Sort your feelings out for once!"

She looked back at him shocked. "I'm not walking away from my problems Ryou. I made a promise and I'm keeping it and I know how I feel, that was never the problem."

Ryou took a deep breath, head down. "Then it's me that's in the way..."

"It's not you in the slightest." she gave him a reassuring smile, "I swear to you, it's not you."

"It is me..." Ryou whispered. "Without me, Bakura would be happy... you would too..." Without another word, he took off at a sprint.

She growled and snapped her fingers, suddenly they were both in a room without a window or door. "Stop that, now!" she said harshly. "Whether you see it or not, you make Bakura happy, you said it yourself. Ryou, I've lived a miserable life, without a friend or family until you showed up. You've made me happy, in the brief couple of weeks I've known you, I've never been happier."

"And I don't want to stop seeing you!" Ryou exclaimed.

"I know, I don't want to stop seeing you either, but I made a promise, so it's not up to me."

"Don't say that!" Ryou said sadly.

"I'm sorry Ryou, it's the truth, it isn't up to me. I'm not sneaking around his back anymore. Every time we get caught you end up hurt and I can't live with that anymore."

Ryou stared at the floor, unable to argue with the truth. 'No...'

/I should just leave now, get out of this world, finalize everything and disappear like promised/ she thought and looked away from Ryou. With a long drawn out sigh, the room disappeared so they were standing where they were originally

Silent tears dragging down his face, Ryou turned to leave wordlessly.

She stood there thinking, /it's for the best right? We all stop hurting?/ she closed her eyes

Ryou tried to wipe away the tears, but failed. He found himself heading to Bakura unconsciously.

She made it to the market and ended up sitting on a fence watching the virtual town move, her thoughts running too wild to work or concentrate

Bakura, during all of this, actually managed to fall asleep once again which was how Ryou found him.

/Go home,/ she told herself repeatedly but she wouldn't move.

Bakura was awoken by Ryou. "What?" One look at Ryou's tear-stained face made Bakura force the story from Ryou.

"Damn it," she said rubbing her forearm across her face. "wasted tears." she frowned drying her face.

Bakura stood after hearing Ryou speak and left the house wordlessly. 'Where the hell are you...?'

She hoped off the fence and stood there for a moment watching two kids chase each other playing, then looked at her timer.

Bakura continued walking, hoping he would find her. "Aura..." He murmured.

She walked from the town a little bit then looked at it, with a single thought, the whole town was gone, and instead sat a single door. /I haven't been here in a while/ she thought, /a minute more wouldn't hurt./ she stepped through the door and now stood on the elongated plateau that overlooked the Pharaohs palace in Egypt, with the sun settling behind the horizon. /my oasis/

Bakura continued searching in vain, frowning more and more each minute.

She stood there for a while, watching /Seto would kill me if he found out I programmed this/ she thought then turned heading towards the door opening it to find a small dragon sitting there, roaring at her. "What do you want?" she growled, "I thought I shut off the monster control?" she moved through the door, and the dragon roared again moving to her.

Bakura heard a faint noise coming West and followed it.

"Gah, enough!" she growled as the dragon brushed its snout against her pushing against the door, "I'm not in the mood to cuddle with anything that has scales!"

Bakura found himself coming up to a door and hesitated. He knocked on it lightly.

She felt the knocking on the door and sighed, "damn it." she cursed and the dragon pushed on her again just as she opened the door. She fell to the ground and the dragon came over her licking her face. "get. off!" she spat

Bakura knocked harder, growing annoyed.

The door opened slightly, she managed that much before falling. "It's open just come in and stop knocking!" she yelled and tried pushing the two ton dragon off her.

Bakura walked in slowly, taking in the scenary.

"Great," she sighed looking at the dragon. "Get off or I swear I'll erase you from the programming." the dragon looked at her confused before backing away. "What do you want?" she growled looking at Bakura.

"What a kind greeting," he told her sarcastically. "Makes me want to stay..." He walked over to her.

She rolled her eyes, "I love your sarcasm."

"As I to you," he replied, sitting beside her.

She looked away from him watching the dragon, "why'd you come?"

"Because you made Ryou cry," he said in a low tone.

Feeling a pain in her heart she lowered her head, "because I told him I was leaving."

"And why would you tell him that?" Bakura questioned, an amused smirk playing on his lips.

"I promised you I would leave as soon as I got you two back in your body. The way I see it, I'll be doing everyone a favor."

"Yes, by making Ryou sob into my shoulder and denying me of my fun, everyone will be much happier," Bakura retorted sarcastically.

"well, you hate me, you've wanted to kill me since we've met so I'll be disappearing from you. Ryou, yea he'll hurt at first but he'll be strong and move on. Everyone else doesn't want me around you so I'll just go home and do as everyone wants if in the end, everyone is happy."

"If you go, who will I sarcastically insult?" Bakura asked, still amused. "And Ryou's truly hurt, you know... His mind? A mess."

"Like you couldn't find someone to insult before me." she shook her head. "and Ryou..." she paused, "I'm not a doctor, I can't do anything for him. I can point him in the right direction, but that's it. Besides, he doesn't want me around you."

"Ryou's contemplating suicide, Aura," Bakura said casually. "And if he dies, then I do as well."

"w-what?" she asked looking over at him, "why?"

"He thinks he's a burden to the two of us. Ryou tried to hide it, but it's hard to hide from someone who can read your thoughts," Bakura replied off-handedly.

She looked away thinking, "There's medications he can take, to level himself out, therapy," she started dragging on. "but he's not a burden, he needs to stop thinking he is."

"He's thought that for a long time now..." Bakura replied, "And good luck trying to get me to take meds."

"True," she sighed, "there's nothing I can do." she tried saying casually, though it pained her to do so. "I won't be around forever to help him." she thought, "and every time I try to help him I find a dagger in my throat, or being pushed off a building."

Bakura shrugged. "I still want you dead, but I can't have Ryou dying as well. His life is more important than your death."

"So, I stay and help him and you occasionally try killing me? Or I leave, he tries to killing himself and you suck it up and take meds or he will kill himself." she laid back resting a hand under her head as she looked up

Bakura sighed. "Ryou is such a pain... I liked him better before when he never spoke out. When he was younger, that was so much better..."

She looked over at him, only seeing his back since she was laying down. "you complain allot."

"And you bitch a lot," he retorted.

She laughed, "You're right. But if putting my life in danger helps keeping Ryou safe then I'll do it." she glanced up at the sky.

He smirked. "Glad to hear because as soon as I get out of here, I'm back to hunting you," Whether he realized it or not, his tone was less threatening and almost... Playful.

"I look forward to it," she grinned closing her eyes chuckling.

Bakura chuckled as well, leaning back until his back cracked.

She looked over, sarcastically said "that didn't sound painful."

Bakura winced slightly. "It wasn't..."

"Liar." she smiled sitting up and turning towards him slightly. "it was written all over your face."

He glared at her. "It's nothing awful.

"Doesn't mean it still didn't hurt. You've been stressed so your back is probably covered in knots." she stopped herself

He looked over at her. "Who says I'm stressed?" In reality, however, he was. This was the longest he'd gone in a while without stopping for a beer or two down at the local bar.

She laughed, "you're such a bad liar," she moved behind him, "just relax alright." she put her hand on his shoulder lightly bending him forward just a bit as her hands began working at his back.

Bakura stiffened even more, if possible, but slowly relaxed. His back was more stiff than he had realized and the massage was really helping. "Why?" he asked after a few minutes.

At first she thought it was better to ignore him as her hands worked at all the knots on his back, "why what?" she asked.

"Why be nice to me when I'm trying to kill you?"

She smiled, "Last time I brought that up we argued and you didn't believe me, so I'm not answering."

Bakura sighed. "Whatever then."

Her smile grew. /you know the reason,/ she thought wishing she had the nerve to say it. Her hands moved to his lower back and worked at an especially tough knot.

Bakura bit his lip, but a slight moan escaped his lips.

Her hands paused and she lost her smile, afraid she might have hurt him. "not stressed my ass." she muttered under her breath and continued working at the knot alternating between her thumbs and palms.

"Maybe a little..." Bakura murmured. 'I just need a beer, that's all...'

She smiled, "Well, your back is covered in knots, if you could bend over a bit more, or lay down I could get to them better."

Bakura shot a look at her, but laid down on the ground.

"You can trust me," she smiled at him and without thinking about it kneeled over him, careful not to put her weight onto him, then began working at his lower back.

Bakura twitched and jerked slightly, moving her off. "Not so much pressure..." he murmured. "You're shoving my bruise into the ground..."

Her hands stopped, "sorry, I didn't mean too." she pulled her hands away.

Bakura sat up. "I'll be fine now..." He murmured, cracking his back once more and wincing slightly.

"You're such a liar." she moved away from him and crossed her arms, now uncomfortable.

"That I may be," Bakura told her. "But I'll survive."

"You're right, sorry, I overstepped." she said.

After a long hesitation, he murmured, "You were just trying to help."

She sat back on the ground and wrapped her arms around her knees. /so, we go back to hating each other after this, as if none of this happened./ she thought

'Why do I not still hate her?' he asked himself. 'What is she doing to me...?'

"Stop it." she growled as the dragon nudged her, "I'm serious, I'm not in the mood." the dragon sat in front of her, "you're like a bad puppy." she hissed. /I hate this...feeling like this, for him, but I can't do anything./

'If I continue feeling like this, then she'll need to die... I won't let myself succomb to that level of patheticness...' He glanced up at the dragon, glaring. "Go away."

The dragon looked over glaring then spread its wings jumping into the sky, filling her face with a storm of sand, "damn dragon," she cough. /I'll just stay away, I'll help Ryou but I'll be distant/

'I'll keep away from her, let Ryou take over more often...' Bakura glanced at the dragon as it made its departure.

/I really don't want too, even when he's trying to kill me, I enjoy his company does that make me sadistic?/ she thought standing shaking the sand out of her hair.

Bakura glanced in her direction. 'I need to stop thinking of her.'

She flipped her hair up and put it back into place then finished off wiping the sand from her outfit, "dragons," she sighed. /I'm so confused/ she frowned.

"Dragons," he replied. 'I need to get away from her... No, I need a beer...' Bakura cracked his back painfully once more. "You should talk to Ryou."

She sighed, "Yea, I supposed I should, that'll be one less person mad at me." she looked over, "I know you're gonna deny me, but I'm gonna offer anyway. Alcohol doesn't work out the knots on your back, if you need me to work them out once we're back in the real world, I'll be around." she moved towards the door.

Bakura bit his lip slightly. "Alcohol does wonders, Aura," he retorted slowly. "But... Maybe," he deadpanned.

She smiled looking at him, "I'll agree with you there, alcohol takes the edge off, it really does, but it doesn't do anything for the body, only the mind." she opened the door, "you'll have to leave, once I close this door behind me this particular land will disappear, it's on a whole separate and private server."

Bakura nodded and walked past her. "Now go find Ryou before he sets his mind to killing himself."

She nodded, "sure, but just be near him by the end of the hour, that'll make putting you back to your body simpler." she moved away from him and quickly returned to the house hoping he was there.

Bakura shrugged. "Sure," and wandered away.


	15. Chapter 15

Once inside the house she looked around, "Ryou?" she called out, "you here?"

There was no answer.

"Duh," she sighed opening the screen and looking at it, opening up the tracking program to locate Ryou.

Ryou was outside in the backyard.

She moved to the backyard, "Ryou!"

Ryou was laying on the ground, and didn't look up when she called his name.

"Hey," she said coming up to his side, "are you still mad at me?" she asked

Ryou didn't speak to her. He laid on the grass, his finger moving slightly. "Three thousand two, three thousand three..."

She was confused and sat down next to him, silence for a moment.

"Three thousand twenty two, three thousand twenty three..."

She watched him, "I'm not leaving." she said softly, "I'm gonna be your friend, if that's alright with you."

Ryou looked up finally, frowning. "Just go make out with Bakura," he said angrily.

"Nah, that doesn't sound appealing at all." she laid back on the grass looking up at the sky.

'I beg to differ.' "Yeah..." Ryou murmured, following her gaze.

She looked over at him, "there's nothing between us Ryou, he hates me, just like everything else. But you're my friend and I care more about you then any empty threat he throws at me." she smiled.

"I just can't get myself to believe that," Ryou all but hissed. "Because he does have feeling for... For you!" he spat.

She looked at him shocked, "don't be foolish, he doesn't." she looked away quickly and towards the sky.

Ryou sat up and whispered, "I can read his mind just as well as he can read mine even though he has no knowledge of it."

She closed her eyes, "It's no matter if he does or doesn't." she said softly, /I wonder if it's true then./

Ryou stood completely. "I don't want to see you again," he said in a monotone voice.

She looked over at him, "why?" she asked sitting up

Ryou bit his lip. "Because," he said stubbornly.

She stood and looked at him, "Ryou, please. Why?" she asked softly

He shook his head, moving away. "It's... nothing."

"Obviously it's not nothing, you wouldn't have brought it up."

"IT'S NOTHING!" Ryou yelled, surprising himself with the volume.

She flinched and looked away, "alright." her timer beeped, noting it was almost the end of the hour, she ignored it. "whatever I did, I'm sorry ,I truly am. I'm just worried about you."

'It's not you, it's me...' Ryou nodded slowly. "I'm... Sorry."

"I don't want you to leave, I don't want to leave. I meant it when I said you were the happiest thing I had in my life. Without you, I'd just go back to a house full of arguing and a job full of meaningless paperwork."

Ryou sighed. "I... Know," he murmured. "It's just..." He trailed off.

"Ryou, please tell me what's going on, I need to know. I'm terrified I'm going to lose you."

Ryou sat down, head to the ground. "I don't know what's with me..."

She hesitated but moved beside him placing a gentle hand on his back, "Ryou, please know I'm here if you need to talk about anything, anything at all! Any time of the day or night."

"I just... Feel bad about you and Bakura," he muttered quietly. "It makes me feel... Strange."

"Why do you feel bad? and what makes it strange?" she asked frowning

"I... Don't know. I just feel weird about it, uncomfortable if you will."

"About us liking or hating each other? or both?"

"B-Both..." he whispered.

Her hand moved from his back and fell to her lap, "Ryou, I understand it makes you feel uncomfortable but it's going to happen one way or another. What's more important is what would you rather have? Us hating or liking each other? You don't have to answer but," she trailed off. "I'm sorry I brought this on you."

Ryou frowned, not answering. 'I honestly don't know...'

"I'm sorry," she repeated and her timer beeped again. A screen popped up, "what?"  
>"We're ready if they are." Mokuba said and I nodded.<p>

"we need to get going." she said to Ryou.

Ryou nodded, staring at the ground. "Yeah.."

"We'll finish this after you get some rest, back in the real world." she said shutting down the screen and standing, "let's go inside so I can get the link started. Hopefully Bakura is there already."

Ryou nodded once more, still not looking up.

She waited a moment, "come inside." she said walking into the house. "Bakura, are you here?" she asked.

There was no answer.

With a sigh she brought up the tracker, "I feel like a zookeeper sometimes." she sighed.

Bakura was on the other edge of the virtual world.

She moved back into the yard, "I have to go get Bakura, seems he got lost, will you be alright for a moment?" she asked Ryou, worried.

Ryou nodded for the third time, still not speaking.

"alright," she frowned and summoned stardust dragon flying off towards Bakura. /all these mixed emotions are giving me a headache./ she sighed, /I know what I'm doing as soon as I get home/

Bakura, meanwhile, was taking a walk to clear his thoughts.

She found Bakura and just before she landed her timer beeped again, "yes, yes I know." she growled ignoring it. The dragon landed in front of him and hissed at Bakura. "Enough of that," she ordered jumping off the dragon. "hours up, you're late."

Bakura looked at her. "Oh," was all he said.

She eyed him for a moment, "you alright?" she asked concerned.

He glared at her. "Yeah, peachy!" he said in annoyance, then suddenly zoned out.

"Bad liar," she sighed, "well, both you and Ryou are in bad shape, the sooner I get both of you back in your body the better. Come on, he's waiting." the dragon lowered and she walked up to it.

Bakura didn't move for a minute until his head snapped up. "What?"

She looked over at him, "I said I need to get you back to your body."

"Oh," he replied, getting onto the dragon. He then spaced out once more.

She followed him onto the dragon and sighed. "I know you don't care, but you need to talk to Ryou." she said as the drag took into the air.

Once again, Bakura came out of his trance. "What did you say?"

"I said I know you don't care but you need to talk to Ryou, you're right there's something wrong." she looked down.

Bakura sighed. "What do you think I'm doing now?" he asked her.

She looked back at him, then smiled. /Must be nice to have someone to talk to at any moment you need too./ she thought looking back forward.

Bakura glared at nothing, frowning.

"Sorry," she said to herself and the dragon landed in front of the house, she slid off the dragon and looked at the timer on her wrist

Bakura hissed aloud, gripping the dragon's back tightly. His eyes remained spaced out, though.

She looked over at him, "are you.." she stopped. /what's going on between them?/ she thought watching his eyes.

Bakura pounded on the dragon's back, hard. "Bastard!" he said aloud, his eyes snapping back into focus.

The dragon reeled its head back looking at Bakura. "easy." she said touching the dragon lightly. "Bakura, what's wrong?"

His eyes narrowed and he crossed them angrily. "Nothing," Bakura hissed.

She frowned, "obviously it wasn't nothing." she muttered getting off the dragon.

Bakura said nothing as he got off.

She watched him but growled going inside, "tell Ryou to meet us in the living room so I can get you two out of here."

"Tell him yourself!" Bakura hissed.

"Why the hell are you getting mad at me?" she snapped then shook her head, "you know what, don't even answer that." she walked out into the yard, "Ryou, come on, it's time to get you back."

Ryou came out, fuming. Both he and Bakura shared a glance before spacing out and still glaring.

Once in the living room she brought up a screen and began clicking away at it. The whole world disappeared and they stood in a black abyss. "Alright, stay there, don't run off or you'll be trapped here, seriously." the screen disappeared. "When you get back to your body, take it easy. Alright?"

Neither of them answered. They were still glaring at each other.

"Whatever." she disappeared and removed her headset standing. "I have the worst headache in the world."  
>"You've spent far too long in the virtual world last couple of days, plus you haven't gotten much sleep." Mokuba said and she nodded.<br>"You got this under control so I can go lay down?" she asked and Mokuba nodded. Smiling, she left the hospital heading straight for the bar.  
>"Alright, begin uplink!" Mokuba said and the two boys were brought back to their body.<p>

Ryou was in control of the body when his eyes snapped open. He had a glare on his face from arguing with Bakura.

"Take it easy Ryou," Mokuba said, "your body has had allot of work done, you're all healed but it might be stiff."

Ryou was, in fact, very stiff. "Damn..." he murmured, rubbing his back.

"Just relax, and take it easy, normally we have someone to help massage out the muscles but it's rather late at night and everyone's gone home." he stood walking towards him.

Ryou's eyes drifted closed as he hit the pillow and fell instantly asleep. He was completely wiped out.

Mokuba left the room with everyone else shutting out the lights. Aura on the other hand had already made it out into the night, walking down the street /I should just leave, go back to America/

Even in sleep, neither white-haired boy found peace. They spent all night, literally, arguing.

The next day Aura skipped school and purposefully spent the day in her office working, afraid to see either boy, that night she ended up in the bar near a back booth.

Bakura was seen up towards the front downing more beer than it seemed possible.

For the first time in a very long time she was drunk and she growled tapping her bottle to the table. /I hate this/ she thought and felt an arm sling around her. "Hey baby." a drunken voice slurred over her and she threw him off onto the ground. "Not interested, fuck off." she was slurring a bit as well

Bakura turned his head to see Aura. He was, obviously, completely wasted. "Hey buddy, what's up?" he called from his seat to her.

"You!" she growled and chucked a bottle at him, it missed by a long shot and shattered on the wall behind him. Attempting to stand she sat back down and growled. "damn these heels."

"Hey, that's no way to treat me!" Bakura yelled, enraged. "I'm gonna kill ya!"

She laughed, "like I haven't' heard that before!" and forced herself to her feet though she stumbled. She made it over to him and glared, "do it, you'd be doing all of us a favor."

Bakura broke a bottle on the wall, glaring. "One dead coming up!" He swung at her, aiming for her head but hitting her arm.

She stumbled back and fell on the ground holding her arm, "you asshole." she yelled. "I didn't mean it literally!"  
>"Out of my bar if you're gonna fight!" the barkeep yelled and she shot him a glare.<p>

Bakura threw his bottle at the bartender, growling. "We need privacy!" he shrieked as a slight mist began to gather.

She stood and wrapped her arms around him from behind, "not here! no shadows here, I hate those damn shadows!"

"DON'T CARE!" he yelled, as the mist gathered larger and larger. Bystanders stared in shock, but kept quiet out of fear.

She clung onto him burying her head on his back, "stop it, stop it!"

"NO!" he yelled, his vision slightly blurred from being intoxicated. A portal soon opened and he dragged Aura inside forcefully.

She stumbled and spun towards him, "what the hell?" she growled looking at him then shivered, it was cold she regretted wearing only light clothes.

The world they were now in swirled with black shadows and was at least thirty degrees cooler than the previous environment. The shadow-like demons seemed to respond to Bakura and flared angrily at Aura as he glared at her.

She shivered wrapping her arms around her body. "w-why have you brought me here?" she asked shaking in the cold, a headache growing from the alcohol.

"Because people kept on looking at us ANNOYED ME!" Bakura finished at a scream. The shadow beasts swirled angrily and Bakura's crimson eyes glowed in the darkness.\

She struggled to stay standing, her arm covered in blood now, "I uh...um I'm sorry." she slurred.

"YOU SHOULD BE!" Bakura shoved her to the floor, but the force of his shove made him fall on top of her.

"Ow," she growled when she hit then looked up to see him over her, she immediately blushed too drunk to think of something

Bakura stared down at her, growing angrier. "YOU HIT ME!" He yelled. Even though him falling on top of her made that theory impossible, his drunken logic verified it as correct.

"Ow stop yelling, my head hurts." she grunted, "and you're pressing down on my wound." she said looking to find his hand was directly on it, and pushing his weight there.

"STOP YELLING AT ME THEN!" Once again, drunken logic verified this. He smacked her face, hard.

"Stop hitting me!" she slammed a knee into his side

Bakura fell off of her, furious. He lept back onto her, pinning her down and staring into her eyes with his glowing crimson ones. "You'll regret that..."

"you hit me first, a couple time." she said looking away, avoiding his stare, her head was swimming

Bakura leaned in closer, making their faces mere inches apart. He stank of beer. "You hit me first."

"You're just drunk," she slurred finding herself meeting his eyes. "My bottle missed you...I think."

"I don't get drunk," he told her at a hiss. "And it hit me alright!" Though it didn't, he wasn't thinking straight.

"Well I'm sorry." she spat and raised her head a bit for deficiency and their noses brushed but she ignored it, "you shouldn't be such a...a..." she couldn't think of the word.

"A what?" he growled back at her, pushing down on her neck. "SPIT IT OUT!"

She felt her throat close and she grunted, "je-" she coughed. "jerk."

His grip around her thoat tightened. He started giggling madly. "Really? Really! I think YOU'RE THE JERK!"

She gasped for air closing her eyes not being able to talk.

He suddenly stopped, his eyes glazing over. "Uhh..." he murmured, falling backwards and unconscious.

She sat upright coughing gasping for air as she rubbed her throat, so was still dizzy from the alcohol and lack of blood, with no where to go she fell to the side passing out


	16. Chapter 16

Ryou sat up and stared around him. He felt lightheaded from both intoxication and being where he was. "Crap..."

Aura dreams again, unpleasant dreams

Ryou sits beside her, frowning. "I wish I knew how to get out of here..." he slurred/

She rolled slightly, her head was throbbing, even in sleep

Ryou laid his head on her stomach, sighing heavily. "My head..."

She let out a soft sigh

Ryou sighed as well, closing his eyes to sleep.

A small smile appeared on her face as she placed her hand unconsciously onto Ryou's head, comfortingly.

Ryou smiled as well, feeling an urge to nuzzle into her hair. However, he fought it.

Her hand slowly moved in his hair as she dreamed of better things

Ryou stiffened, then relaxed, smiling.

A couple hours passed and she slowly opened her eyes, "ow my head," she grunted quietly, "ow, ow," she looked down and found Ryou sleeping on her stomach and sighed resting her head back down. /Hope I didn't wake him/

However, Ryou did wake up and grunt almost instantly as a wave of pain overtook him. "Fuck..." he murmured, and he didn't believe in swearing.

"Seems like you're feeling just as well as me." she sighed rubbing her forehead.

Ryou looked over at her, nodding slightly. "Usually Bakura... Takes over for the hangovers..." Ryou murmured, every syllable hurting his head.

"Shh," just lay back down, relax." she whispered, both of their voices was like daggers through her skull

Ryou nodded. "Why are we in the Shadow Realm?" he wondered aloud.

"I don't know." she lied just trying to be quiet. /oh I so don't feel good/

Ryou, seeming to get her pain, laid down and stayed quiet.

"Just sleep," she whispered shutting her eyes praying that she could get back to sleep

Ryou bit his lip, then closed his eyes.

Falling asleep, she placed her hand gently on his head and pet him, soothingly

Ryou smiled, and finally gave into his need to nuzzle her hair.

Smiling, she held him close then fell back to sleep.

Ryou fell back asleep as well, his final thought being, 'Her hair smells nice...'

She fell into a dreamless sleep shivering lightly, her arm was throbbing

Ryou snuggled unconsciously into her hair, smiling.

Her good arm wrapped around him subconsciously, for warmth and comfort.

Ryou's unconscious body welcomed the grasp happily.

Another couple of hours passed and her arm twitched, she let out a very low growl. "damn it." she said waking up, her headache just as bad as it was before

Bakura was sleeping on her still.

She wanted to move but with him curled against her she couldn't, though she couldn't tell which of the two it was. Glancing at her arm it looked horrible and it hurt just as bad as her head

Bakura sighed in his sleep, moving more on top of her.

She couldn't help but smile and laid her head back staring at the darkness before her

The darkness, unlike when Ryou was in control, seemed to eminate from Bakura's body. Said boy started waking up and groaned.

She had shut her eyes breathing deeply just before she heard him groan, but didn't move.

Bakura sat up slowly, his head throbbing. "Mother of Ra..." he moaned angrily.

She grunted, his voice echoing in her head painfully and she tightened shut her eyes

"My head hurts like fuck and now I'm in the Shadow Realm and I can;t remember a thing and... Oh Ra..." Bakura muttered, standing and looking at Aura. "You're a wreck."

"Thanks for noticing." she slowly sat upright grabbing her head then looked at her arm. "your handy work." she sighed.

Bakura smiled slightly. "At least I'm a smart drunk..."

"I wouldn't say smart, I mean you hit me then said I hit you." she spat then grunted as pain shot through her head. /Oh I don't feel good./

He shrugged. "You probably did hit me then."

She thought for a moment, "no I think I threw a bottle at you though, I missed so you cut me...oh who cares." her neck was swore and she couldn't exactly remember why.

Bakura shrugged. "At least my hangovers don't last too long... How are you doing?"

She fell back on the ground grunting, "my heads throbbing, my arm will barely move, my neck hurts, and I feel like I'm about to throw up. Other than that I'm absolutely perfect."

Bakura nodded, smiling. "Great to hear!"

She shivered, "I'm freezing, why exactly did you drag me here again?"

Bakura looked around, then shrugged. "Not sure. I usually go here to think..." he murmured. He stuck his hand out and it was instantly covered in a thin mist.

She shut her eyes rubbing her forehead, "Seto's gonna kill me, literally." she muttered thinking she had thought it

"Who cares about him?" Bakura asked, retracting his hand.

"about who?" she asked looking over at him.

"Kaiba," Bakura replied.

She looked away and frowned, "well, I do, obviously, he doesn't approve of drinking, at all. So only hell waits for me when I go home, if I even make it." her stomach lurched and she coughed slightly.

"Then don't go, say you had business to attend to, and wait until the hangover passes," Bakura replied.

"He hawkeyes my company like I'm some child, a lie like that will be hard to slide by, but I could swing it." she sighed and forced herself to sit up shivering again

Bakura, sighing, scooted a bit closer to her. "That's why I prefer to work solo."

"Yea, but I could hardly do anything alone," she grabbed her arm and smiled.

Bakura frowned. "True, it takes years of practice to work out my trade."

She chuckled, "I wouldn't doubt it, I never made a good thief, Hell I couldn't even runaway."

He laughed lightly. "You? A theif? I don't see it."

"My point, I tried and failed, miserably." she laughed.

"How many times do you think you've tried?" he asked her.

"Hmm," she thought, "in this life or the past one? Or, all together?"

"This life."

"Once, just for laughs, tried pick-pocketing, and failed." she smiled

"You failed at pick-pocketing?" He laughed. "It's so easy to do!"

"Yea, yea, I know, I watched you do it a couple hundred times." she laughed.

He shrugged. "It's an interesting form of thieving because you never know what you'll get."

"It's like a grab bag, you blindly put your hand in and hope you get something good!" she chuckled and grunted when another wave of pain hit.

Bakura nodded. "I once grabbed some guy's condom..." He murmured. "Now that was disgusting!"

She giggled softly and shivered again, "as long as it wasn't used then it's not so bad."

"..." Bakura didn't respond.

"Cat got your tongue?" she looked over at him smiling.

He glared at her. "It was used."

She burst into laughter, though it hurt, "that's horrible, who puts a used condom in their pocket?" she said ignoring her headache

"I have no fucking clue, but it was repulsive..." Bakura shuddered at the memory. "My hand smelled like shit!"

"I bet," she chuckled and pulled her hand away from her wound momentarily to glance at it. /ugh, so much blood/ she thought.

"You're bleeding," Bakura suddenly said. His eyes were fixed on the cut.

She nodded, "yea, hasn't really stopped, it would explain why I'm so dizzy."

Bakura moved closer, his eyes unblinking.

She didn't pay any attention to him only looked over her arm which was covered

Bakura moved in so that he was about an inch away from her arm. His eyes were wide as a small smirk played on his lips.

"uh...Bakura?" she muttered softly "what are you...um..."

In a split second, his mouth was over the cut on her arm. He sucked on it lightly, the blood flowing down his throat.

She growled in pain and her bloody hand fell to his hair, not pushing or pulling just sitting there, "Bakura," she bit her lip groaning.

He bit on the cut a bit harder, opening it up so that more blood flowed.

Her hand tightened in his hair as she yelped softly

A few minutes of this passed before Bakura finally sat back. His eyes glowed slightly and a thin trail of her blood hung on his lips.

As soon as he backed away her hand clasped over the wound as she shook lightly, she felt even more sick and weak than she did before. "damn it," she growled closing her eyes.

Bakura bit his lip, his tongue catching the spare amount of blood on his lip.

"Why did you..." she grunted tightening her grip, she felt like she was going to pass out at any second.

He frowned, looking at the floor. "It was... A craving," he replied.

"Just warn me next time," she shivered her skin pale. "Oh I don't feel good."

Bakura scooted closer to her, frowning and biting his lip harder. "It's not something I'm... Aware of. That is, until it's done."

"Fucking vampire," she growled with a chuckle, "I think," she paused closing her eyes, "I think I'm going to lay down for a moment." her hand slipped from her arm and she fell into him passing out.

Bakura sighed, looking down at her. "I don't know..." he murmured to her unconscious form.

She relaxed into him breathing heavily and shivering lightly.

He wrapped his arm around her slightly to keep her warm. "Your blood tastes sweet," he told her.

As if on response, she smiled softly curling into him.

Bakura rested his chin on her shoulder, sighing once more. "I'll need to have it again sometime," he said aloud, putting his face in her hair for a moment.

Slowly, her hand rose up to his neck, holding onto him lightly as she buried her head into his shoulder, for a moment feeling safe.

Bakura was originally shocked by the gesture, but sighed and allowed it. "What is it about you...?"

She shivered again attempting to move closer to his warmth.

Bakura stood suddenly as Ryou's voice rang through his mind. 'Pervert!' That waged a silent argument between the two in their minds, Bakura glaring into the mist in irritation.

When she fell her eyes opened, then yelped in pain landing on her arm, "son of a..." she rolled onto her back grasping her arm, "what the hell happened?"

Bakura growled, not hearing her. 'You want to sleep with her, don't you!' Ryou shouted. 'I don't want to mother fucking sleep with her!' came Bakura's screaming reply.

She sat upright grasping the wound and looked over at him, /what the hell is going on?/

Bakura suddenly yelled, "Shut the fuck up, you Ra damned pervert! And you call ME the perv!" He still didn't notice Aura as he glared at something in front of him.

She frowned looking away, /Ryou, why does it upset you so much?/ she thought

"If you keep talking, I'll keep responding!" A pause.  
>"Don't you dare try to ignore me!"<p>

She still felt sick and her arm throbbed in pain, still bleeding, the screams echoed in her head like daggers again and she grunted.

Bakura froze, looking over at her "Shit," he cursed, going over to her and sitting down.

"I'm fine," she stuttered turning her head from him.

"How long have you been up?" he murmured quietly.

"Since you stood, I hit my head on the ground and woke up." her hand tightened around the wound

He frowned. "Yeah, yeah..." Bakura muttered, glaring at a space in front of him.

"Hey, I really need to bandage this thing, and it's too cold here." she shivered.

Bakura nodded. "Yeah, and it's draining me of my energy. I can last a while in here, but still." He stood, focusing and chanting softly.

She could only nod sitting on the ground, she was still dizzy and couldn't keep her eyes open for long before feeling sick

His chanting grew louder as shadows seemed to spread out in front of him. Finally, after a minute or so, he grabbed her arm and yanked her through. They landed in Bakura's living room.

She grunted when he yanked her up and hid the pain as much as she could until she was standing somewhere a bit warmer.


	17. Chapter 17

Bakura laid her out on the couch. "Hungry?"

"A bit, more thirsty though." she said enjoying the fact that her head rested on something comfortable.

"I'll grab a water," he replied, leaving the room.

"Thanks," she muttered softly

He came back a few minutes later with water and sat beside her.

She was barely aware that he sat next to her but glanced over when she felt the couch move. "thanks." she grabbed it though she was shaking.

Bakura held onto it with one hand, helping her guide it to her mouth.

She took a couple of drinks then lowered it. /It's out of character for you to be this nice/ she thought. "Do you have, um peroxide and some bandages?" she asked as politely as she could

As if remembering his character, he replied, "Find it yourself." He then flipped the TV on.

She nodded, /I expected it not to last./ then she stood, stumbled lightly and slowly walked towards the hall where the bathroom was. Stopping, she leaned on the wall, /I'm too weak for this/ she thought

Bakura, oblivious to her, laughed at something on TV. Or, so it seemed. "Shut up, Ryou."

She made it to the bathroom and slammed to door shut, at least attempted too, and rummaged through the cabinets until she found what she was looking for. Grabbing a cloth she poured the peroxide onto it then put it on the wound growling loudly in pain

"You okay?" Ryou's voice rang out from the living room.

"Y-yea," she grunted cleaning the wound as much as she could with the peroxide, trying to stay quiet. She then glanced at the tub behind her

The tub had a lavender towel handing over it as well as a black one.

With a scowl she moved to the tub and turned it on, /I deserve it, after all that/ she thought and then undressed

Ryou, worried a tad for her, stood to check on her in the bathroom.

Slowly, she sunk into the tub letting the warm water soak her chilled body. Taking a deep breath she settled in and shut her eyes.

Ryou walked in then. "Aura, I wanted to-" He saw her naked and, completely shocked, stared at her naked figure. A blush rose to his cheeks.

"Ryou!" she screamed wrapping her arms over her body. "Get out!"

Still, against his will, he stared at her. His face was beet-red as Bakura laughed hysterically at him.

She stood to grab the towel and quickly wrapped it around her glaring at him, she felt faint again and stumbled, catching herself on the wall. "out!"

Ryou walked out on auto pilot, his blush growing more intense by the second. "Who's the perv now?" Bakura taunted.

Aura growled and dropped the towel on the ground sinking back in the water. "the nerve." she hissed under her breath

Bakura took over the body then and went to get some food, still chuckling.

She was only in there for a couple of minutes, just enough to scrub the blood off her body. before she dressed and left the bathroom cleaning up everything before doing so

Bakura meanwhile was back on the couch.

She stumbled her way into the living room and sat down beside Bakura without saying a word. She had a towel over her head and rubbed it across her hair.

"Ryou likes naked women apparently," Bakura said to break the tension.

She blushed, "I noticed." she dropped the towel to her shoulders only to expose pink cheeks

Bakura laughed. "You shouldn't worry too much," he told her, smirking. "He's gay anyway."

"What?" she looked over at him shocked.

Bakura nodded. "You heard me."

"Is that why..." she looked away, /is that why he doesn't like me close to Bakura?/ her blush darkened as she sat upright. /no he's just messing with me, he can't...really? right?/

Bakura looked at her. "Why what?"

She looked over at him, "never mind, nothing." she looked at the bandage on her arm and pulled on it lightly

His frown only grew. "No, really."

"Ryou hates me with you." she said simply.

He shrugged. "So?"

"So what?" she looked over at him, "he doesn't want me to get close to you."

He shrugged once more. "And we aren't."

"I never said we were, but he doesn't want me close to you at all, like hateful or...anything."

"Then leave," Bakura replied in an off-hand tone.

"No, I don't think I will," she relaxed back on the couch and smiled closing her eyes.

"Then don't," he replied, leaning back too.

She chuckled, "you're strange you know that? I wish I could understand you."

"I'm an enigma," he replied to her, smirking.

"Enigma," she echoed with another soft laugh, "I supposed you are." her phone went off for a moment and she sighed pulling it from her pocket looking at it. Her face tightened and she ignored it setting it on the couch.

"Seto?" Bakura guessed.

"Lucky guess," she frowned slightly, "I wouldn't doubt if he'd try calling me again shortly."

Bakura picked up her phone and crumbled it with one hand. "There you go."

She growled, "that's the second phone of my you've ruined."

He laughed, smirking. "Well..." He shrugged.

"Whatever," she sighed. /Not like I can't just buy another one./ she thought her headache still bugging her.

As if he had read her mind, he asked, "Want dome painkillers?"

She looked over, "yes, actually, that would be great."

He pulled out a few from his pocket. "Here."

She grabbed them smiling, "thanks." grabbing the water from earlier she took the pills then took a deep breath glancing at the TV

The card game channel blared as Bakura watched.

Her face scowled, /card games, more and more cards I can't get away./ she thought then smiled, /oh well, at least he's not trying to kill me/

Bakura watched, mesmerized.

She watched it, happy to be sitting there and found her headache had pretty much gone away. "I meant to ask, have you adjusted well now that your back to your body?"

He turned to her. "Meh, I suppose. Though there's something I should probably try..."

"Try what?" she asked looking at him.

A knife was suddenly extracted from his pocket. He sent it wizzing past her head, grazing her hair lightly. "My aim is still flawless," he said in amusement.

She froze, her breath balling in her throat. "that's low." she turned and grabbed the knife looking back at him, "too bad you share a body with Ryou, cause I'd love to show you what pain feels like as well. I mean, it's only fair, right?" she grinned.

He shrugged and held out his arm. "Go ahead."

"Well it's no fun if you want it." she pouted gently running the blade across his arm, not cutting him.

He sighed, frowning. "Not like that." He tore the knife from her grasp and full out stabbed his arm.

"I was teasing you, you imbecile!" she growled pulling the knife from his arm and clasping her hand around the wound.

Bakura looked at her. "And I wanted to stab myself," he replied.

"You're something else, come on." grabbing his arm a bit tighter she dragged him to the bathroom where she grabbed the peroxide

He rolled his eyes. "I don't need that."

"I don't care," she said simply and moved her hand away grabbing a rag she poured a good amount of peroxide on it then placed it over the wound.

Bakura hissed, slapping it away. "It stings."

"Boohoo," she pulled his arm back and placed the rag back on it. "Deal with it until I'm done cleaning it."

He glared at her, but said nothing. 'Why does she bother?'

After a moment, she put a slight pressure on it leaning away to grab the bandage. Removing the rag she wrapped it up snug on his arm, then when finished she leaned down and kissed it lightly. /why the hell did I just do that?/ she thought

Bakura thought the same thing, staring at her.

"S-sorry, old habit." she cleaned up everything putting it away then quickly walked from the bathroom back to the living room where she sat there picking up the knife.

Bakura followed her and lifted the knife from her grasp. He dragged it slowly along his wrist.

She grabbed his wrist suddenly, "don't." she said firmly and harshly.

He looked at her, confused. "Why not?"

Her hand tightened slightly as she looked away, "I don't want to lose you." she whispered.

"...Lose me?"

For a moment she was silent and her hand slipped off his wrist. "Never mind."

Bakura looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I uhm..." she stuttered and looked over at him blushing lightly. Her eyes met his and she took a deep breath, "since your gonna kill me anyway." very boldly she moved in and kissed him quickly before backing off.

He stared at her, eyes wide. "Wha...?"

She was silent looking away, /stupid, stupid, stupid/ she thought

"You..." He gripped the knife tightly. "Why?"

She shook her head lightly frowning, not answering him

He walked towards her slowly.

She hadn't noticed him walking towards her, but she expected the worse.

He came a few feet from her and stopped.

"I'm sorry," she said softly lowering her head

He dragged the knife sharply across her cheek, no emotion on his face.

Her face tightened but she didn't move, her eyes teared up.

"Never again," he whispered, but his voice didn't sound like his. No, it sounded almost... Like Ryou's.

"Just finish it," she said softly, /I don't deserve any less./

"I don't kill." Yes, definitely not Bakura's voice. It was Ryou who gripped the knife.

She slowly glanced up at him, "I'm not going to deny how I feel anymore, that's not me. At least it's known now."

Ryou nodded. "You should go."

"Ryou," she said softly not moving.

"I said you should go," he replied with more force.

"Alright," she bowed and headed towards the door.

Ryou watched her exit before calling, "Aura."

She turned and looked over at him.

"You shouldn't come back."

She smiled, "I'm not gonna make any promises." she opened the door.

"I'll move then," he said, knowing he wouldn't truly.

She chuckled, "weren't you the one who said don't run from your problems? I'll see you soon." she left the house

Ryou merely stared, not speaking.

She headed down the street holding onto her cheek, /how am I gonna explain this to Seto?/

Exhausted, Ryou went to take a nap.

She went home and almost immediately got into an argument about her safety and she slept in a separate room, locking the door and refusing to come out for anyone.

Ryou continued sleeping, frowning as he did so.

The next day, she refused to go to school she didn't go to work, she stayed locked up in her room.

Ryou sat in school, exhausted from arguing with Bakura all night.

After lunch, she ended up going to class by request of Mokuba, with a large band-aid on the side of her face. She interrupted the middle of class and walked right in, sitting at her desk.

Ryou looked up, frowning.

She didn't look at him, she kept her head low frowning, /I messed up/

Ryou continued staring at her.

She could feel his eyes on her and she raised her hand to her cheek, /I managed to calm Bakura down, but managed to gain a new foe/ she frowned.

Ryou closed his eyes, sleeping during class.

She didn't pay attention until the bell rung for a break and most of the class left except for a few small groups. She remained sitting there staring at her desk.

Ryou came over to her slowly.

She glanced over watching him but didn't move.

He leaned on her desk.

"hey," she said softly looking up at him, waiting.

"It was wrong of me to cut you!" Ryou burst out.

She smiled, "and if I ever kissed him again you'd draw another blade on me." she said softly.

He nodded. "Don't touch him like that again," he murmured.

She frowned looking away, "I can't promise anything."

"Then I can't either," he said simply.

"Fair enough, but I want an answer." she looked at him dead in the eyes with a stern face, "why?"

"Why?"

"Why won't you let me get close to him? And I want the truth."

"Because..." Ryou paused before, "He's mine."

"Yours?" she asked questioningly, "yours as in you love him?"

Ryou avoided the question. "Mine to... Protect."

"And you think I'm going to harm him?" she looked away, "let me tell you, Ryou I admired him in Egypt, looked up to him. I would have done anything to be by his side for him to hate me or love me, I didn't care. I would never dream of harming him."

Ryou bit his lip. "I don't like you close to him."

"I wish you'd tell me straight Ryou."

Ryou turned on his heel to leave, not addressing her.

"You love him, don't you?" she sighed and looked out the window.

"I might."

She smiled, "you should let him decide. If he tells me I should leave, I will. If not, I'm staying." she gathered her things. "There's enough people in this world that hate me, including my fiance, one more person won't hurt." she headed towards the door.

"I don't hate you."

She frowned pausing, "that's everyone says" she left the classroom and went to the rooftop. She ended up laying down and watching the clouds.

Ryou followed her hesitantly.

Shutting her eyes she frowned sighing, /it's not worth it, I'll live my life just like I did then,/

Ryou laid beside her.

She heard something beside her and glanced over to see Ryou lay down. Frowning she closed her eyes again not saying a thing

"Aura." Ryou stared upwards.

She sighed, "yea?" she asked not opening her eyes

"I truly don't hate you," he said.

She grunted softly, "not now you don't." /but everyone always does in the end/

Ryou sighed. "Not now."

She opened her eyes and sat up, "You will, I know it. You already partially do."

"And how do you know this?" Ryou asked her.

She scoffed, "seriously?" she looked back at him, "I kissed him Ryou, and you cut me, that involves some level of hate."

He shrugged, frowning. "Maybe a tad..."

"My point," she sighed looking away and decided to lay back down

"But not real hatred. Jealousy almost..." Ryou sighed. "I do not hate you, Aura."

"I believe you," she said softly, "I'm just used to it I guess." she shut her eyes, the warmth of the sun lulling her.

"Well, who besides Kaiba?" Ryou asked.

"Don't worry about it," she said simply

"Who?"

She glanced over at him, "every business partner, every student, anyone who's ever gotten to know the real me, hates me. Except you, Bakura, and Mokuba. Even my own father despised me when I stood up to him for Seto, when I over took his business."

Ryou sighed. "That's so many..."

Her face tightened, "I know."

"Too many..." he murmured.

"It's a part of my life." she sighed, "I take it with a grain of salt."

"Well, let me be different then."

She allowed a smile to appear, "you're already my best friend." /who stabs me anytime I get close to your darker half/ she thought

Ryou smiled. "You too..."

The bell rung but she didn't move, instead she let out a long sigh then ran her hand along the bandage on her face subliminally. "no matter what, I want it to always be that way"

'As long as you stay away from Bakura,' "Sure," Ryou replied.

/this will never work out in the end/ she thought and frowned, she had the sudden urge to run and never stop

Ryou gave a strained grin. "Yeah, friends..."

"There's always going to be that uncomfortable tension between us, that white elephant in the room," she said with a frown

"That's not something that can be helped," Ryou deadpanned. "It's permanent."

"I know it." She sighed.

"That doesn't mean we can't still be friends though!"

"still..." She sighed softly closing her eyes.

'Two people, one guy...' Ryou bit his lip and stayed silent, staring into the sky.

She frowned /will this ever work itself out? Oh well at least they can't read my mind anymore./

Ryou sighed heavily. 'I wish I knew what was going on in her mind...'

Slowly she sat up and looked at the city. /this absolutely sucks./ she sighed rubbing her face.

"It's never going to work, is it?" Ryou said aloud finally.

"I dunno" she said softly looking back at him.

"Why Bakura? Why not anyone else? Why not Kaiba?" Ryou asked her before he could stop himself.

She flinched slightly. "Kaiba and I are..." she sighed. "Don't worry about my personal affairs."

"It's my business if it's messing with my life," he retorted in a whisper.

"I was talking about Kaiba. Not about Bakura."

"Exactly. If you're having issues with Kaiba that's leading you to Bakura, it's my issue," he told her.

"It's not leading me to him, its everything from then not now. I love Kaiba I do but allot of stuffs going on. I just don't know."

Ryou sat up, sighing. "So you think cheating on Kaiba is the answer?" He regretted it the moment it slipped out.

"It's not that I wanted too!" She snapped

"But you did!" Ryou couldn't stop himself. Words were pouring from his mouth without a single thought. "You kissed him and you already have Kaiba, but it doesn't seem to matter to you! You... Slut!" He slapped a hand over his mouth, tears forming in his eyes.

She looked away from him silent for a long while. Standing she looked back at him. "You're right." She looked away. "I am."

Ryou stood beside hr. "No, I'm wrong! Don't listen to me!" 'But you don't believe that do you Ryou?' he asked himself.

"You're right." She said simply and closed her eyes. She ripped her necklace off with his ring on it than gave it to him. "Sorry." Turning she left.

Ryou felt a sob escape his lips and he dropped to his knees. "Why did I say that?" he asked himself, not realizing it was aloud. "All I do is cause pain and confusion..."

She left the school and went straight to her office. /he doesn't need me. He's better off./

Ryou, meanwhile, went home. 'No one needs me... I'm better...  
>Better off dead...'<p>

She paused thinking. /he's gonna hurt himself/ she looked up from her work. /no Bakura will stop him...right?/

Ryou locked the door to his house and started rummaging in the kitchen for a knife. Bakura watched him, worried slightly. 'Ryou?' There was no answer from the boy. 'RYOU.' Still, nothing.

She grabbed her phone hesitating. /I should send someone to check on him./

'RYOU!' Bakura screamed as Ryou picked up a particularly large knife. "No Bakura. I'm sick of this constant feeling of being nothing but a burden. I'm sick of being weak and pathetic and ruining everything I touch. I'm sick of my life and it's time for it to end."

She picked up a phone and dialed his house number waiting.

The phone rang and Ryou answered it, knife gripped tightly. Bakura continued screaming at him as Ryou whispered, "Hello?" into the phone.

She breathed deeply. "Ryou," she said gently. "You're not going to do anything stupid are you? You're not gonna hurt yourself?"

Ryou stared at the knife in his hand, then swallowed roughly. "No," he directly lied.

"Don't lie," she said. "You told me not to run from my problems harming yourself is running from them."

Ryou stared at the phone, shocked. 'How does she know...?' He took a deep, quivering breath. "I'm not doing anything, A-Aura."

"Ryou I'm being serious." She said roughly. "Do not so anything stupid. It's not worth it."

"I'm a nothing. I don't deserve life and I don't want life. I'M DONE PRETENDING!" he screamed into the phone, tears falling onto his cheeks.

"Ryou, be serious. You are something, you are important to me and Bakura. You need to be serious, ending your life won't solve anything." She looked up at a guard who nodded two of them left the room quickly.

"Bakura couldn't care less about me and you hate me. There's no one else and I hate myself for ruining everything. Aura, it's the only option and I'm taking it." Shivering, Ryou hung up on her.

"Damn it!" She slammed the phone down and left the office quickly running to the car and speeding down the street

Ryou, giving one final look at Bakura screaming, jammed the knife into his chest roughly. All at once, a stabbing pain shot through him and the now bloodied knife clanked onto the floor. Ryou fell to his knees, blood staining just about everything as Ryou's eyes soon began to close.  
>'I'm dying... I'm finally...'<br>All sound was muted from him, even Bakura's shrieks. He was drifting off into a deep sleep, one he hoped he would never wake up from.  
>'Goodbye Bakura... Aura...'<br>And then all went black.


	18. Chapter 18

The car hadn't even stopped by the time Aura was at the front door bursting it open, she had already called an ambulance, it was already on its way. "Ryou! Bakura!" she shouted through the house and found him on the floor. She ran forward sliding on her knees making it up to him, "bastard, you god damn bastard!" she screamed tears pouring down the side of her face. "Why?" she clasped her hand over the open wound, "no, no! Come on, open your eyes say something say anything!" she screamed pulling him into a firm hug. "please."

Though Aura couldn't see him, Bakura was laying beside Ryou. 'That damned idiot...' he murmured weakly until he noticed Aura. Bakura tried to speak, but instead broke into a coughing fit. Ryou's physical body mirrored Bakura's coughs as both bodies lay side by side in a pathetic state.

Aura felt him cough and she pulled him into a hug. "Just hold on, please hold on." She begged hearing the ambulance arriving outside. "Hold on." She begged again and he was pulled away from her by the emts from the ambulance

Bakura sighed, feeling his soul form move as the physical body did. 'Ryou, you dumb ass...'

Within a matter of minutes they were at the hospital and Aura sat in the waiting room. She knew she was covered in his blood from holding onto him but she didn't care. "Please," she cried to herself.

Bakura sat by her, frowning. 'Why the hell did Ryou have to do it?'

"It's my fault," she muttered. "Damn it." She used her hands to wipe away her tears but just managed to smear more blood on her face. "Ryou. Bakura." She whispered.

'Bakura?' Bakura thought, looking at her. Hesitantly, he poked the back of her neck and the finger slid through.

She shivered and grabbed the back of her neck looking around, /what the hell?/ she thought no one was near

Bakura, sighing and chuckling from her reaction, poked her neck once more.

She swatted at her neck thinking it was a bug and grumbled, though all of it distracted her long enough to stop crying for a moment. "damn bugs," she cursed and shivered again, "or.." she looked around her.

Bakura sighed, wishing she could see or hear him. He wondered suddenly... A pen lay on the table before her along with several magazines. Closing his eyes and focusing, he managed to lift the pen an inch and hold it long enough to scribble, "Hi." The effort alone exhausted him.

She noticed something moving out of the corner of her eyes and looked down noticing the pen move until it wrote hi. Her heart stopped, she thought for a moment and her eyes went wide, "Bakura?" she gasped.

Bakura took a deep breath before forcing the pen up again. He sweat slightly and when the pen lowered, the words, "No shit, Sherlock," were on the paper.

She couldn't help but chuckle, though she was relieved. "If you're like Ryou, it's probably paining you to talk to me, so don't. You're strength and health is more important." she said, thought she wanted to hear his voice, just to be able to talk to him.

Bakura rolled his eyes and, though the strain was eating away at him, wrote, "It's not hard."

She shook her head smiling, "liar." she dropped her head a bit more and strained to keep that smile, "is it worse than last time?"

Bakura didn't respond for several minutes, trying to gather the strength. "No."

She eased slightly, "please don't lie, I beg of you Bakura, tell me the truth." she said praying that is was the truth.

It took even longer for him to reply. "It's no big deal."

Nodding she took a deep breath, /I hope you're not lying to me/ she thought. Wanting to say something else to him she thought better of it, whether he admitted it or not she knew it was paining him to talk to her.

Bakura, meanwhile, panted beside her. 'This... Is.. A bitch... To do...' he murmured.

Hearing a door opened she glanced up and saw a Doctor step out into the waiting room and she stood, he walked towards her and she tightened a fist. "Is he gonna be alright?" she asked, "cause I'm gonna be honest I don't think I can use my technology this time." she said to him.

"Well..." The doctor bit his lip. "The results are... Inconclusive. We truly aren't sure. He could go either way at this point."

Tears appeared again and she nodded slowly, "c-can I see him?" she asked softly.

The doctor nodded once more. "He's in a half awake, half asleep state. His responses to you might not make very much sense..."

She nodded, "that's ok," she said looking at him, "thank you doctor." she moved around him and into his room. Standing at his bedside, she grabbed his hand and sat in a chair beside his bed. "Hey," she said to him

Ryou looked dreadful. He was hooked up to several IVs and paler than ever. His usually fluffy hair clung to his sweat-soaked face. "Mom..."

She froze, she could play it off as his mother, give him some peace, or tell him the truth. Frowning slightly she said, "y-yes dear."

"Mommy..." Ryou smiled. "I'm going to join you, Mommy..."

"No, it's not your time yet," she said softly, tears streaming down her face. "There are people who love you, who will miss you."

Ryou shook his head weakly. "I love you, Mommy... You and Amane too..."

"I know, and I love you too, but it's not time for you to come yet. You need to fight through this." her hand tightened on his a bit, /please/ she begged

"No Momma, I won't... I want you and Amane and our family again..." he whispered.

"You will, but not now." she said and her head dropped as she cried. "not now," she echoed to herself.

"B-Bakura..." He murmured. "I can't stand it..."

She looked up at him, "Bakura? What is he doing to you?"

Ryou chuckled, but the sound was more like a balloon being deflated. "Momma, don't you know?  
>He killed you."<p>

"I know," she said softly, "but what is he doing to you that causes you pain?" she moved a bit closer not sure how to console him

"Well, Momma..." Ryou laughed again, the same horrid noise coming from his throat. "He's just so hard."

She smiled, "the greatest obstacles in life, are the ones not easily climbed over. He cares for you, he just has a funny way of showing it."

"I never thought being beaten was a way of love..." Ryou murmured, his eyes half-closed.

She didn't say anything, "he just has a weird way of showing it," she repeated looking away. "He does truly worry about you."

"You've seen the marks, Mommy. It doesn't look like love, but is love as strange as it feels?" Ryou coughed violently before settling.

"I don't know," she whispered her hand tightened around his as he coughed. "All I know is that he is indeed worried about your safety, he protects you."

"You're so smart, Momma. I can't wait to be with you..." His eyes started closing further.

"No, you need to stay here, with Bakura! You need to fight through this!" she said hurriedly, /Bakura, come on, help him!/ she thought, /please./

Bakura, in fact, was in the room the entire time. He watched Ryou, frowning. 'Is this the end?' He floated by Ryou's side. 'Ryou...'

"Bakura, please do something," she cried to herself, "I can't lose either of you." her head dropped to the bed beside him as she cried

Bakura put his head on Ryou's shoulder, causing the young boy to shiver. 'If I have to keep you alive by force, so be it.' With that, a flash lit up the room and Bakura laid in the bed, shivering slightly in the new sickly body.

She saw the flash and stood, worried, "Ryou?" she said, "Ryou, are you alright?" she asked realizing how stupid the question must have been. "What happened?" she muttered

Bakura coughed, then winced. "F-Fucking... H-Host..." he murmured quietly.

"Oh God, Bakura!" she said and grabbed his hand again, "Thank god." she sighed. /at least he'll fight./ she thought

He tried to glare at her, but ended up looking feeble. "N-No... Pity."

She smiled, "no promises." she held his hand a bit tighter, feeling absolutely helpless looking at him

"N-None at a-all..." He muttered, moving his hand away from her. "Or else y-you can l-leave.."

"Fine, no pity, but that won't stop me from worrying about you. About both of you." she shook her head, "it's not like you could make me leave anyway."

He hacked violently, his form of laughter. "T-True, not in this state a-anyway."

"Don't laugh you moron, you're trying to heal not rip your wound open more." she tried relaxing in the seat but she couldn't.

"R-Relax, you w-worrier..." Bakura told her, sitting up and wincing painfully.

"Lay back down! Come on, don't be stupid!" she said standing and moving closer, ready to stop him if he did anything else stupid.

But he did. The white-haired male tried to stand but ended up falling on his face. A huge puddle of blood started to form as more was being coughed up by Bakura. "F-Fuck..."

"Damn it Bakura!" she yelled, he was allot heavier than she thought and it took her a while just to get him up to his knees. "Stop it, seriously, just lay down!" she spat, "come on, get to your feet." she moved his arm around her shoulders, "I'll help, let's go."

Still hacking up blood, Bakura managed to stand and lay back in the bed. "T-That was nothing..."

"Seriously, stop it!" she yelled at him, "just lay there and try to heal alright!" she sat on the chair again.

"N-Nobody is g-going to make me s-sit around and do n-nothing..." he murmured, eyes half closed in exhaustion.

She smiled, "too bad, cause I am, even if I have to sit on you, you're not leaving that bed, got it?" she growled.

Bakura, thinking she wasn't serious, tried to stand once more.

She stood and grabbed his shoulders pinning him back to the bed. "Lay. Down." she harshly spat glaring him straight in the eyes.

He shook his head, the very motion tiring. "N-" He fell unconscious, unable to remain awake any longer.

She took a deep breath moving back into her chair and settled in, "ass." she whispered. She called in a nurse to re-bandage his wound but never said a word otherwise.

Bakura slept soundly, his breathing not too ragged.

Over the next hour, Mokuba arrived bringing her a fresh change of clothes since she was nearly covered head to toe in his blood. "You sure you gonna stay?" he asked her and she nodded.  
>"Yea, tell Seto not to worry, I'll call him in the morning, alright?" he nodded, hugged her than ran out. With a long sigh, she used the shower, then changed returning to the chair to watch him.<p>

Ryou's spirit form sat beside her, staring at the floor. 'Why...?'

She sighed rubbing her eyes and rest her head on her hand looking from him. "Just get better," she muttered to the darkness.

Ryou laid his head on Aura's shoulder. 'I don't want to...'

She felt weird suddenly then felt something gentle on her shoulder. Not moving, she only smiled, then shut her eyes, "sorry."

'Why can't you leave me be? I was so close...' Ryou only sighed, his head not moving.

She had drifted off, somewhere between sleep and being awake, and smiled. As if she heard him she whispered, "you're important." before falling asleep.

Ryou, frowning, let himself be dragged to sleep as well and retreated to his soul room.

She woke up every hour or so, checking up on him, and stayed up for as long as she could before falling back to sleep. By morning, she had only gotten a few hours of sleep and she grumbled.

Bakura was sleeping soundly in bed still, his body weak. He breathed through his nose, and it whistled as he did so.

Standing Aura watched him for a moment before stepping out of the room, to grab some coffee. She had too much on her mind from everything Ryou told her the day before, everything Bakura did.

Bakura woke up as she left and moaned as a fresh wave of pain hit him. "Damn..."

With a warm cup of coffee in her hand she headed back to his room, /Ryou was right about me/ she thought then sipped on the coffee.

Bakura looked over at her. "I w-want..." He coughed.

Stepping into the room she was oblivious that he was wake, until he spoke. "Bakura," setting the cup aside she rushed to his side, "relax, take a deep breath, then tell me what you want."

He hacked for a minute before gasping and saying, "C-Coffee."

She sighed, "alright, but you'll have to let me help you." slowly, and very carefully she helped him sit up slightly, then grabbed her coffee and sat beside him. "here, it's hot so be careful."

Bakura frowned, but nodded. He took a steady sip of it, then spat it out. "W-What's in t-that?" he yelled, then coughed slightly.

"Hospital coffee, taste like shit doesn't it?" she laughed and set it aside, "of course it's black I don't know if you like it any other way."

"Black c-coffee is the o-only w-way to drink... But Ra, t-that shit's n-nasty..." He chuckled.

"Yea, everything you eat and drink from the hospital is nasty. Except for the water, so your choice you can either force down some coffee or drink water."

"W-Water..." he moaned.

She left the bedside and came back momentarily with a small cup of water.

He smiled, but it turned out as more of a smirk. "G-Give it here..." He held his hands out.

Slowly handing it to him, she kept her hand nearby to help steady it if he needed it.

Bakura took a steady sip, but then coughed it back out into his palm. He tried to play it off by wiping his hand on the bed, but the bed was smeared in red.

Her heat skipped a beat seeing the blood, "damn it." taking the cup away she grabbed a rag and wiped off his hand, then wiped off some blood from his face, "try a smaller sip this time. It might go down easier."

He shook his head, coughing more into his hand. His expression suddenly filled with pain as he realized he couldn't stop hacking.

"Shit," she yelled for a doctor and within moments she was pushed away from him as doctors and nurses surrounded him. She ended up being pushed out of the room and back into the waiting area, "I hate this!" she growled.

Bakura's coughs could be heard from the other room until he was silenced finally.

Her heart stopped as she heard him stop coughing, "please be alright," she said watching the nurses leave the room.

The nurses hurried passed her. "...Stopped breathing..." "..So sudden..." "Won't live much longer..." They murmured as they ran.

She hadn't even waited until they cleared the room before she pushed her way inside, "I don't believe it, it's not true!" she said stopping by his bedside. "I won't let you die, I refuse it! There has to be something I can do, anything, anything at all! Something," she cried

Bakura laid motionless on the bed, his body limp and growing cold. From the side, Ryou watched him.

"What's killing you?" she wiped her tears away, "how can I help?" she asked the darkness. "I'd do anything to keep you alive." she couldn't stop crying

A hand was suddenly holding her own. Bakura, eyes still closed, murmured, "Stop crying... Tears... Make you look..." He gasped slightly, his hand falling as he whispered, "Pathetic..."

She couldn't help but smile, "I don't care. I don't want you to die. Not now, not like this." she sobbed.

"L-Lame..." A cocky grin found its way to his lips as his head drooped.

She chuckled shaking her head, "yea, I'm lame." she tried wiping away her tears only to find more replaced them, /I wish there was something I could do, even if I had to give my soul to the shadows, I would./ she thought, /I don't want you to die/

A nurse ran in then, shoving her aside. "You need to leave," she hissed as she got to work, more nurses flooding in after her.

"No, I can't." she tried moving back in but arms pulled her out. "no!" she cried.

They had to shove her, literally, into the waiting room, then locked Bakura's door.

"No!" she slammed her fist on the door, then again. "I can't leave him, not like this." she cried putting her head on the door.

However, no one opened it for her. There was a lot of yelling, scrambling, and beeps from a machine beyond the door.

After a moment she moved across the hall and sat down against the wall wrapping her arms around her knees and burying her head crying

Suddenly, a screaming was heard. Bakura's screaming. Something hard hit the wall and made a sickening crack in the room.

She stood suddenly, "what the hell?" she moved towards the door, "Bakura?" she called and tried opening the door finding it was still locked.

A few screams were heard as the door flung open and several nurses ran out.

As soon as the door opened she was pushed back and she fell to the ground. "ow," she grunted, remembering Bakura, she shot up and went into the room.

Bakura stood, blood pouring from his torn open wounds. "Ra damned doctor... Shocking me with that-" He looked up. "Hi."

"You idiot!" she yelled rushing towards him, "he was shocking you back to life! To restart your heart! Lay down, now!" she yelled at him, tears still pouring down her face. "Now!" she screamed

Bakura poked her forehead. "I don't want to," he replied simply, smirking.

"I really don't give a damn! Lay down now or I'll...I'll..." she thought for a moment, "I'll make you!"

He smirked larger. "And how do you plan to do that?"

"Force if I have too, you're much weaker than I am. So sit!" she stood in front of him placing a rough hand on his shoulder, "now."

Unfortunately, she handled him a bit too roughly and he toppled over the bed and onto the floor on the other side with a loud groan.

"Oh God, I'm sorry!" she said moving around the bed to his side, "I expected you to fight back!"

Bakura lay on the ground, glaring up weakly. He muttered something quietly and used the bed to help him stand.

She helped him stand slowly, "really, I'm sorry. I really thought you were gonna fight back like you normally do." she repeated, "just sit please, at least."

"I have a cut in my chest the size of your head. Why the fuck do you think?" he asked rudely, sitting on the bed.

"I know, I'm sorry." she frowned and looked at the door, "you need a nurse to rewrap your bandages."

He rolled his eyes. "I don't need help," he hissed, then winced as he bled.

"Stop being so thickheaded for once and let people help you! You just said yourself you had a cut in your chest as big as my head, now let me help!" she growled looking at him.

Bakura shook his head, the very motion making him dizzy once more. "F-Forget it, Aura," he growled.

"No, I won't. I don't care what you say, I'm going to help you...somehow." she looked away from him, /I remember something, from a long time ago. Maybe I can help him,/ she thought.

He soon found himself falling and, though he tried to stay upright, landed sideways on the bed. "Damn..." he murmured, unable to move.

She stood upright looking at him, /if Everyone still has their gifts from Egypt, maybe I do too/ she thought /maybe just enough to save him/ she watched him fall, "Bakura, I might be able to help." she said moving up to his side, "but I'm not sure."

He looked up at her, frowning. "What could you possibly be able to do?" he asked from his lying down position.

"W-well," she stuttered, /it's impossible right?/ she thought, "I remember something from the past, something the magicians taught me." her voice was shaky.

He raised an eyebrow. "Really now?"

"I-I don't know, what I mean is." she paused sighing, "I'm still me from then, right? So, I should be able to do the same things I did then, so." she paused thinking, "if I say remembered a small healing spell, shouldn't I be able to use it?" her voice stuttered like she was drunk

Bakura chuckled lightly, noting her voice. "I suppose. After all, I still have the vast majority of my abilities from Egypt. Try it, I have nothing to lose..." He sighed. "I'm already losing blood anyway."

She nodded and moved forward, "sorry, if I hurt you." with shaking hands, she rest her hands on his chest then took a deep breath /please, please, please work./ she thought and began saying something in the ancient language as if it was natural.

Bakura felt a sudden chill sweep through him as his body went ridged. He gasped slightly, breathing in sharply.

She heard him but didn't stop, until she was finished. Backing away she felt drained of energy and grunted looking at him, "did...did it work?" it had to! The energy she just lost wasn't for nothing, she knew it.

Bakura felt... Dizzy. Better but oh-so-dizzy... Like two things were conflicting at once, her white magic and his shadow magic. It pained him and he felt his breathing grow ragged.

"Did I hurt him even more?" she gasped moving forward sleep dragged at her eyes but she tried ignoring it, "Bakura, are you alright? What's wrong?"

He moaned, trying to speak. He felt so much better seeing as the bleeding even stopped, but at the same time... So much worse...

"I did something wrong, I knew I shouldn't have tried it." her head started pounding but she grabbed his hand, "Bakura please." she muttered.

He nodded at her, forcing words out. "N-No, I'm alright... B-Better..." His physical wounds were perfectly healed, but in the process brought mental wounds he was battling.

"Why are you hurting then?" she asked /did I say something wrong? Mess up on a word?/ she tried thinking, /I used white magic so it shouldn't be hurting him/ then she realized it and gasped, "is it your shadows?"

Not bothering to lie, he nodded weakly. He suddenly gasped as a wave of pain shot through him, then sighed deeply.

She didn't know what to do or say, /damn, I should have thought that through./ she rubbed her forehead. /what can I do now?/ she watched him thinking as fast as she could

Bakura, with a strained effort, sat up. "The Shadow Realm..." He muttered as an idea came to him. "It might help."

She nodded, "I'm going with you, can you open a way in?" she asked.

"I can try," he told her, shutting his eyes. Slowly, slower than usual, he began a complex stream of murmured chants. Fog rested comfortably around his hands and expanded as he spoke.

She nodded and stayed close by his side, she knew fell well the shadow realm was dangerous, but at least she could make sure he was okay.

Bakura's eyes suddenly snapped open as he hissed the final word of the chant and he quickly shoved his way through the mist, dragging Aura roughly by the arm to follow. The moment the fell to the ground, the portal slammed behind them. Bakura sighed in relief, feeling stronger already as the shadows swirled about his body.

Once into the shadow realm she fell away from him sitting on the ground. Still feeling weak, now sitting here she felt a strange pull on her skin but ignored it. "are you alright?" she asked him

He didn't answer at first, smiling as he felt power returning to him at an exponential growth. Finally, sighing in relief and happiness, he turned back to her. "A lot."

She returned his smile and nodded, "Good, I'm glad."

He nodded back, laying down and stretching his arms out. The shadows around him seemed to mold to his position as he sighed once more.

"Sorry for causing you more pain, I didn't really think it out." she said looking over at him.

"It's fine. You managed to heal my physical injuries after all," he told her.

"All?" she asked shocked, "I hadn't intended on that, but I guess it's for the best." she chuckled, then remembered how much colder it was in here and shivered

"What, it's not good for me to be healthy?" he asked, feigning a hurtful expression. "That's low."

"That's not what I meant, I just figured I wouldn't be able to heal it that well, it's a minor spell and I haven't used any of those abilities since then." she smiled at him.

"Well, not half bad if I do say so myself," he told her.

"Thanks," she laid back on the ground beside him and closed her eyes. /what I hadn't expected was for it to take so much energy out of me./ she thought sighing

Bakura, meanwhile, felt stuffed to the brim with energy. He laid out on the floor like one would after a huge Thanksgiving feast and sighed contently.

Her skin tingled, /I guess I unlocked something inside of me, some white magic cause I can feel the shadows more than I did last time/ she thought and closed her eyes grunting slightly, /that's alright though, I'll be fine now./


	19. Chapter 19

Bakura cracked his knuckles, wondering vaguely what spells he could do that didn't require another soul.

She thought for a moment, "did you kill that nurse that tried saving your life?" she opened her eyes looking over at him.

He smiled darkly at her. "Of course."

She rolled her eyes, "great, you know that's going to take allot of explaining to do."

He shrugged. "I don't really care now that my body is up to full strength." Bakura cackled.

"Of course you don't," she sighed looking away.

Bakura stretched once more. "Say, Aura... Do you know any other spells by chance?"

She looked over at him, "um, I don't know, I might.' she looked up thinking, "I think, maybe a few."

'Though it probably wouldn't work, I wonder what would happen if I tried one...?' He looked at her. "What can they do? Can you teach me the incantations?"

She looked over at him, "I don't know what they do," she laughed, "I think ones a protective barrier, the other I think was a way I summoned my monsters, before the DiaDhank."

'Protective barrier? That could provide useful...' "The protective barrier one, teach it to me," He told her.

She nodded and stood, "let me see if I remember it." taking a deep breath she said some chat and rose her hands before her, a glowing white shield appeared and she smiled, "just like that." she chuckled and felt a pain grow but she ignored it

He shrugged. "Sounds easy enough," he replied as he stood slowly. Bakura took a deep breath as a stream f chanted words fell from his lips. A glow appeared around him for no more than a second before Bakura's eyes went wide and he dropped to his knees.

"Bakura!" she dropped her shield and ran forward falling to her knees before him, "hey, are you alright?" she asked placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

He shivered, pushing her away roughly. Shadows around him fought to get near him, but couldn't as an invisible barrier blocked their way. Bakura fell to a laying down position, his face twisted in pain.

She looked around him confused, "I don't understand.." she thought for a moment, /of course, it was white magic, so he has a shield around him, the shadows can't get through to him, think how do you get the shield down?/

Bakura moaned, his face paling quickly. 'Fuck, how do I get rid of this thing? It's sucking the life out of me...'

Thinking of something she moved forward "Bakura, repeat after me!" she then chanted something and she felt the shadows bite at her skin but hid her pain. "it'll drop the shield."

Bakura's eyes were closing. He felt too weak to even think, but murmured the chant at a whisper. The moment the shield dropped, the shadows seemed to... Crash into Bakura as if their desperate waiting was finally over. It made the male gasp as he lay on the ground.

Attempting to get near him, she found the shadows were too much for her to handle. "Bakura, say something, are you alright?" she asked watching him

For a few minutes, he didn't speak. When he finally sat up, he grunted in pain. Shadows licked at his hands desperately as Bakura tried to shoo them away. "Y-Yeah..."

She still couldn't move towards him but she understood how he felt, using white magic in a place of shadows was nearly killing her but she thought it best not to show it. "good," she sighed, "don't try that again, alright? Especially in the shadow realm, using white magic here isn't the brightest of ideas."

He shrugged, sighing. "We need to get out of here... I feel stuffed with power," he murmured. "Plus you look dreadful."

She nodded, "like I said, using white magic in the shadow realm isn't the brightest of ideas." she grunted the pain growing inside her, it kind of felt like the shadows were trying to rip her apart. "so the sooner we get out of here, the better."

He nodded, standing and wobbling. He hardly opened his mouth when a portal opened automatically. "Wow, I didn't realize I soaked up that much power..." he murmured, dragging Aura through and landing back in the hospital.

Sitting on the bed she grunted, "that feels better." she said in heavy breaths. "We should...probably...get out of here." she looked over at him. "at least...you should."

He nodded, opening up a portal with the wave of his hand and not a single chant. "Sure."

She stood, struggling to stay upright, "good."

Bakura chuckled. "If I could, I'd try to give you some of the access energy I've soaked up, but I feel it would only make you feel worse..."

She chuckled walking towards him, "yea, let's not do that, okay. Just take me somewhere I can lay down, if that's alright."

Bakura nodded, and dragged her through the portal into his own house where he laid her down on the couch.

"Thanks." she smiled easing into the couch, "I hope you won't mind if I take a nap." she yawned feeling terribly weak

"Nope," he replied, jumping up and down. He felt like a child on a sugar rush.

"That's a strange sight," she chuckled grabbing the blanket over the back of the couch and it fell to her shoulders, she drifted off to sleep.

Bakura spent the next few hours climbing his stairs and going back down, trying and failing to burn off all the access energy.

She woke up to her phone ringing and yawned answering it, "no no I'm fine, I just fell asleep, I'll be back later, ok." she hung up and sat upright stretching, "that was comforting." then looked over "still full of energy?" she asked seeing him run up and down the stairs

Bakura lept down all twenty six stairs and groaned, hopping up and down. "If anything, I feel more energized," he told her.

She chuckled, "well that's good. A little creepy, but good." she stood from the couch and stretched again.

He glared at her, walking in circles. "This is so irritating..."

"So, you should go do something to relax and settle down a bit." she said watching him.

"Like what? I feel like I'll explode if I stop moving!" He jumped up and down to prove his point.

She couldn't help but laugh, "I dunno, what usually makes you tired?"

He shrugged. "I'm not usually this energetic..."

She watched him, "go run a marathon, that might help. or take a sleeping pill, maybe the two will counteract one another."

He shrugged again. "I'll try the sleeping pill!" he called over his shoulder as he went upstairs to grab one.

She watched him run off, "or it's gonna make you act like a drunken lunatic barely able to stand on his own two feet," she muttered, "this should be interesting."

Bakura came back down, leaping every stair in order to do so. "I feel like I could run across the world," he muttered.

"You probably could, just be careful or you might hurt yourself," she said /although it would be funny to see him fall/ she giggled to herself

He glared at her before racing around the house in circles at a sprint.

"Did you even take the pill?" she asked watching him, trying to hold back her laughter.

He nodded as he passed her for the seventh or eighth time. "Yeah!"

She watched him run then grinned, just as he passed she put out her foot tripping him.

Bakura fell to his face, but right before he hit, a portal opened below him and he vanished.

"What the hell?" she moved over to where he should have fallen to find the ground was solid.

Bakura suddenly lept behind her, screaming in her ear.

She let out a blood curling scream nearly jumping out of her own skin.

Bakura laughed hysterically, jogging in place. "That was low!"

She turned to face him, "so was scaring me." she grasped at her chest, her heart was racing a million miles a second.

He chuckled. "I don't know how, but a portal just seemed to open..."

"Well that ruined my fun, I wanted to laugh at you." she crossed her arms pouting

Bakura rolled his eyes. "You're nice," he said sarcastically.

She laughed, "oh come on, I deserve to laugh at least once at you, right?"

He shook his head, walking in circles around the couch. "No!"

She watched him, "I sure do, I saved your life, at least I deserve a chuckle."

He glared at her, then frowned. "Fine," he said, walking past her.

"Fine?" she turned to face him, "that easy?"

He shrugged. "I just want to burn energy, okay?"

"Don't get all serious, I was just picking on you. But I honestly don't know how to help you burn energy."

He sighed, then created a Shadow Realm portal. "I need to use shadow magic... Need anything? I'm going out."

She shook her head, "I need to get home anyway. I'll swing by later tonight or tomorrow to check up on you, make sure you haven't stabbed yourself or anything."

He nodded, then disappeared.

With a sigh, she left the house, "don't hurt yourself this time, alright?" she said to herself walking down the street. She ended up going home, changing and showering before heading back to her office more to think than anything else until late that night.

Bakura continued climbing stairs and descending them after he came back home, frowning. 'Why am I not running out of energy?'

Nearing midnight a crack of lightening shot by near her office window and she jumped looking over, "I hate storms," she sighed rubbing her eyes. /I have too much work to do to go home though/ she thought looking back at her computer

Bakura, still fully awake, groaned. "An all nighter, huh? Ra dammit..."

Aura grumbled thinking, "I wonder if Bakura ever managed to settle down." she sighed looking at the charts on the screen.

As the night wore on, Bakura continued jogging indoors until he couldn't stand it. He then made his way outside.

Another bolt of lightening and she jumped, "I really hate these storms!" she said to herself with a sigh. "some coffee wouldn't hurt," too bad she was alone, and the building was frightfully dark, or she'd just have someone else do it.

Bakura, after making more than six laps around the town, decided he was sick of getting rained on. He pounded on Aura's door.

Aura made her coffee then walked back into her office sighing.  
>Mokuba, with a grunt got out of bed hearing the door and sighed rubbing his eyes, without a thought he opened the door and looked up, "Ryou what are you doing here so late?" he asked with a yawn.<p>

Bakura used every ounce of willpower not to strangle Mokuba for mixing him up with his hikari. Instead, he used a slightly higher voice to match Ryou's and asked, "Where's Aura?"

"Uh," he rubbed his eyes again yawning, "she said she had allot of work to do, so I think she's at her office, you might have to call her first the whole places locks down after midnight, she might be the only one there to let you in."

Bakura nodded. "Thanks," he told Mokuba. After a moment of thought, he decided his willpower wasn't enough to stop him. "And for your information, brat, I'm not Ryou." He jogged off, not bothering to look back.

Mokuba stood in disbelief watching him run off, "not Ryou?" he thought then shut the door from the cold. "Maybe I should go wake Seto," he muttered walking from the door.  
>For a moment, she stood by the large wall of windows in her office and glanced at the city, taking another sip of her coffee she looked at the paperwork in her hand reading it over for the hundredth time<p>

Bakura approached the door to her office building and pounded on it, groaning.

A guard walked up to the door, "we're closed please come back in the morning," he told Bakura

Bakura pulled out a large knife and cleaned under his nails. "Sorry, didn't catch that."

The guard placed his hand on his gun, "I said we're closed, go home." he spat then grabbed his walkie, "we have a situation." he said into it. Aura heard it over the walkie and grumbled setting the mug down, then walked down to the elevator

Bakura, bored and full of energy, grinned maliciously at the guard. A few seconds later, the guard was deep within the Shadow Realm and Bakura was cackling darkly.

A couple more guards appeared in the entrance way, "leave, or we'll shoot." one of them yelled at Bakura just as Aura stepped out of the elevator

"Go ahead!" he yelled, grinning. This was just what he wanted after all: a bit of entertainment.

Aura stood, masked by darkness, away from the scene, watching. The Guards drew their guns aimed right for Bakura's head and she grunted, one of them became trigger happy and shot at him

At the last possible second, Bakura vanished from sight. Another second later, the man who had shot was getting his arm torn from its socket by Bakura.

Aura tsk'd and walked across the tile, her heels clicking along the way, "enough!" she yelled

He looked up, sighed, and shoved the man to the floor. Bakura slammed his foot down on the man's skull, clearly crushing it and letting blood rush from the broken appendage. "What?"

"Ma'am, but.." another guard said.  
>"Leave, return to your posts before this man kills the rest of you." she said and they did so in a hurry. "Glad to see you're back to your old self Bakura." she sighed walking towards him, then glancing at the body her face tightened.<p>

Bakura spat at the dead corpse. "A much messier job than usual, I must say..." he murmured. "But I suppose."

"And now I have more explaining to do," she sighed rubbing her eyes, "could you at least take care of the body like you did my other guard?"

He nodded, then tore out part of the man's stomach, splattering them both with blood. "But why let meat go to waste?" he asked her seriously.

She flinched when the blood hit her, "really?" she growled looking at her outfit, "this was my favorite business suit, and he was my best guard."

"So he'll probably taste the best, following your logic of course."

"You're sick." she spat harshly.

Bakura shrugged. "I wasn't going to share anyway." He took a huge bite of the raw, bloody stomach and smiled. "So, what's up?"

She felt her lunch rise in her stomach as her face went pale, she shook her head and sat in a nearby chair. "must you *eat* him?" she growled ignoring his question.

Bakura looked over at her, blood on his chin. "Well, why not? You want some?" He thrusted the bloody meat into her face.

"Sorry, I just ate," she swatted his hand away and felt dizzy, "you're absolutely revolting."

"It tastes good," he said as if that justified his behaviour.

"I'm sure it does," she glanced up at a camera in the corner of the room and grunted then back down at him. "Why are you here anyway? You're soaked to the bone, shouldn't you get home before you get sick?"

"Well, I couldn't burn energy so I ran around town and then I was wet and hungry and then the guards came and then I had fun and then you came and now I'm eating." Bakura said this all very quickly.

"Of course the guards came, they're protecting my business and me." she huffed, "now I have to hire more guards, erase the cameras, and clean up your mess." she grunted to herself, "could you finish so I can clean this up?"

Sighing, Bakura ate the last of his bloody meat. "I'll take care of the corpse."

"How kind of you," she said sarcastically then pulled out her cell phone, "I have a mess I need you to clean up. In the entryway, no, just blood. Thanks." she said as if nothing was the issue then hung up.

Bakura, meanwhile, threw the corpse into the Shadow Realm. "I still don't need a chant to open the portal nowadays..." he murmured to himself.

"Lucky you." she sighed, "let's go get you cleaned up." standing she headed towards the elevator.

Bakura followed her wordlessly, still thinking.

The elevator door opened, she stepped inside and hit the button for the top floor, "so, have you figured it out yet?" she asked looking at him. "the whole portal thing."

The white-haired male shook his head. "I'm honestly not sure... This has never happened before."

"Hmm," she thought walking from the elevator towards her office, /It couldn't have been my magic, it nearly killed him./ she thought. "there's a bathroom right there," she said once in the office and pointing towards a door

Bakura nodded and went inside. Once in, he frowned and wiped up the blood. 'I wonder... Could it be that the white magick is still effecting me? Could it be that it enhanced my dark magick somehow?'

She sat at her desk and deleted the footage from the last hour on the cameras and still thought. /I can't remember what I was told about mixing the magic,/ she thought glancing at her desk that was covered and filled in a mess of paperwork.

'I need to figure out what happens after mixing magicks...' Bakura exited the bathroom and went into her office. "You have a laptop?" he asked her.

She looked up at him, "is that a serious question?" she mocked and logged out of the one she was on opening up a guest account then spun the one on the desk towards him.

Bakura set to work quickly, typing fast and searching through multiple websites at a time.

She watched him from the corner of her eyes, "may I ask what you're looking up?"

Bakura looked up, frowning. "I'm looking up the side effects of fusing dark and white magick," he told her. "Care to help?"

She stared at him, "you think anything you find online will be helpfully? There are very few people in the world that can use either, and I don't think anyone who can use magic has posted an article online, but that's just my guess." she sat back

"Well, it's better than guessing!" Bakura retorted hotly, shoving the laptop in front of her.

"Relax, I didn't mean to sound mean, I was being truthful, the internet is full of lies. The only way you're going to figure anything like that out is by trying it yourself, by testing." she looked at the laptop and glanced at some of the pages he was looking at.

Bakura sighed. "More tests? Are you trying to get me killed?"

"Again, being honest." she sighed. "but, to be truthful, Mahad said something to me once about mixing the magic, but I can't really remember what he said."

The white-haired male looked at her. "Well, what do you think will jog your memory?"

She shrugged, "I have no idea, ever since I use that magic on you things keep popping up in my head, fragments."

Bakura smiled darkly. "Then I suppose it's time to use more magick, no?"

"Well, I uh," she looked from him thinking. "I mean, we could." she said and stood, "but not here, I don't want to destroy my office."

Bakura shrugged. "You pick a place then. I don't think the Shadow Realm is a good idea for me, not to mention you."

She nodded, "agreed, that place felt like it was ripping me apart from the inside." she sighed then thought, "well, there's an arena downstairs, pretty wide open, we use it to test out our new cards with the duel system."

"That sounds like it would work. You up for a magick duel?" he asked her, amused.

She nodded, "yea why not, just go easy on me, it's been a couple millennia since I've dueled anyone." she chuckled and headed towards the elevator.

"It's not going to be easy," he told her honestly in the elevator. "To be perfectly honest, I don't have a very good control of my magick nowadays."

"Great, that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside." she sighed and the door opened to a large open room, she stepped inside then moved from him. "I have a bad feeling about this" she whispered to herself

Though not wanting to admit it aloud, Bakura actually had next to no control over his magick. The power was, quite honestly, overwhelming. "So, you ready?"

She nodded softly, /instinct, it's all instinct/ she thought closing her eyes for a moment, /don't think, just do/

'You can control it. It's easy. It's simple. No effort, just act.' Bakura took a stand on the other side of the arena.


	20. Chapter 20

Opening her eyes she felt something burning within her and began muttering something and suddenly there was a snap, a long whip snapped just past his face and then twirled around her, she stood there shocked, "did I..."

Bakura, grinning, closed his eyes to focus. He too began a low chant as dark mist started swirling before him.

She panicked, /ok deep breath, shield/ she thought and muttered something raising her hands.

Something suddenly grabbed at Aura's feet. By the look of it, it was a rope of pure darkness. About ten others were swirling around Bakura like deadly serpents ready to strike at any moment. Bakura continued closing his eyes and murmuring.

/Shit/ she thought looking down. Concentrating on the whip she shot it towards him hitting his shoulder.

Bakura's eyes snapped open, glowing crimson. Several more snake-like ropes seemed to appear from nowhere and coiled around Aura's body tightly.

Grunting her body was constricted and she tried thinking of a way out, trying to concentrate on the whip she snapped it forward and wrapped it around his neck

Bakura let out a sort of choking noise as all ten or so ropes lashed out uncontrollably. They pounded into the walls, destroying parts of the floor and ceiling in their rampaging path.

Aura grunted, she could feel the bindings tighten and her concentration on the whip lessened. The whip around his neck loosened a bit with the lack of concentration

Bakura gasped for breath, dropping to his knees as the ropes around him continued lashing out at everything and anything they could find. 'Shit, I can't control them...' The white-haired male thought fearfully, clenching his eyes shut in a vain effort to do so.

Seeing him drop to his knees she recoiled the whip and used it instead to block off the rope that dived towards her. /shit, shit/ she thought.

'Ra dammit, get it under control!' he hissed to himself, forcing his legs to carry his weight to a standing position. The ropes slowed considerably as Bakura took many deep breaths. The strain was almost unbearable.

She grunted again, /I need my ka/ she thought and closed her eyes. /but I've never-/ her concentration was still slipping

A rope smacked mere inches from her left foot and left a dent six inches thick. Bakura bit his lip, sweating.

"shit," she tried stepped back but couldn't. /alright, just a minor monster/ she began chanting and a dark portal opened above her. A moment later an Archfiend Soldier appeared and slashed through the rope holding her, allowing her to fall to her knees and gasp for air.

Bakura, still having his eyes closed for maximum concentration, felt something slice through a rope. It felt like it was cutting through his own body and Bakura let out a low growl. Where one rope had been cut, two more sprang up more violent than ever.

"Archfiend, break his concentration." she ordered and the beast moved forward dodging the attacks, she sat there on a knee grasping her chest for air

As the vast majority of the snake-like ropes attacked Archfiend, one or two snuck around and kept close to the floor. They sprang up once behind Aura and grabbed her by the neck, dangling her a few feet in the air.

Gasping for air, her nails dug at the rope around her neck, her concentration fell and the archfiend soldier stopped in its tracks. Her vision started blurring, she tried one last time for the archfiend.

The grip only tightened around Aura's neck as Bakura gripped his sides, desperately trying to stop. 'Why is this happening?'

Her hands started glowing a faint white light as she touched the rope hoping it would burn away but she found it harder to summon the power she needed. The soldier was destroyed and she felt an intense pain shoot through her, and her vision began to black

Bakura, meanwhile, was back on his knees fighting desperately to keep things under control. The grip around her neck loosened to a point where she could breath but not escape.

Though it was hard to breathe, she could, still her nails dug at the rope. /how can I get out of this?/ she thought trying to pry the rope off.

The rope loosened even more, dropping Aura to the ground. Bakura's grip on his sides were tight enough to draw thin streams of blood as he used all his willpower and more to slowly reel in the ropes.

She grabbed her throat as she fell to the ground gasping for air and coughing wildly. Barely finding the strength to sit on her knees she covered herself in a weak shield then cough again.

It took a long, energy draining process, but Bakura finally managed to reel in the last of the coils. Completely exhausted, he fell unconscious on the spot without even opening his eyes to see the damage he had caused. With all the slashes the ropes had made, it was a miracle that the room hadn't collapsed.

The shield disappeared as soon as Bakura passed out and she remained still for a while struggling to catch her breath. Standing, she stumbled towards him and felt overwhelmingly dizzy, knowing she was going to pass out at any second she dropped to her knees beside him and rest her hands on his back

His breathing was immensely ragged and irregular. One second his heart rate would skyrocket to an almost insane level, and the next it would drop below a resting one.

/This is going to hurt incredibly bad/ she thought and began chanting, a moment later a portal opened beneath them and sent them both into the shadow realm.

Once in the Shadow Realm, Bakura's breathing slowly became more regular. Shadows around him seemed to flow into Bakura's very skin as he lay unconscious.

She dropped her head, hands tightening on his back as she growled in pain then let out a stifled yell. Placing her hands on his side where he was wounded and said another chant and healed him though the pain became almost too much to bier.

Slowly but surely, Bakura began to wake up. Through the darkness, the only thing visable were Bakura's glowing red eyes as he stretched up and looked around. "Where am I...?"

Just before he woke up she fell back and grunted. She heard him move and felt relieved if only for a moment. "Shadow...realm..." she answered slowly and softly, her throat still felt horribly squeezed.

Bakura stared down at her, then bit his lip. "The hell are we here for!" he asked her. "You know you can't handle it here!" Like last time, Bakura felt the similar swollen belly after Thanksgiving he had felt from before and sighed, knowing what it likely meant.

Slowly and painfully she stood up but smiled, "you passed out, besides, I'll be fine." she lied "it's just a couple of shadows, I can handle it."

Bakura crossed his arms, glowing orbs narrowing. "I can clearly see you're about to pass out," he told her.

She stumbled to stay standing upright, "nonsense, I'm perfectly fine."

Smirking, Bakura wrapped the thinest layer of mist around his finger he could managed then poked her forehead.

She grunted and pushed away from him falling back onto the ground. "that wasn't very nice," she growled

He laughed loudly, laying back onto the floor. "I feel drunk," he said aloud. "Drunk on energy, is that possible?" he joked lightly.

"I suppose..." she muttered laying back on the ground and closing her eyes /I wonder if I could use the shadows to my advantage?/ she thought

Bakura, sighing, opened a portal out of the Shadow Realm and dragged her "I know you hate it in there," he told her as they landed back in her office.

"How kind," she said standing then fell to the couch in her office. "Much better," she felt the strain disappear.

Bakura, meanwhile, could hardly keep still. he felt his fingers drumming on her desk quickly, his foot tapping as well.

She smiled hearing him and couldn't help but chuckle, "maybe smaller doses of the realm next time?" she asked then closed her eyes thinking.

"We were only there for a few minutes!" he exclaimed, the urge finally unable to suppress. He stood and jogged in place, groaning.

She laughed at him hearing him move about, "other than killing my guards, there has to be something to kill your energy." there was a crack of lightening and she jumped, /still storming?/ she thought

Bakura's head shot up as well due to the storm. He sighed heavily, then an idea struck him. "I wonder..."

She looked over at him, "you wonder what?" she asked.

"Do you think the same effects would be on Ryou?" he asked, then frowning. "If I let him out, though, he might try to kill himself again..."

"He might seeing as we're talking to each other." she sighed then realized what she said and felt bad. "I don't know though, as long as it doesn't hurt him."

Bakura shrugged. "Alright then. Just keep an eye on him, alright?" Bakura took a deep breath as a glow from the Millennium Ring surrounded him.

She nodded and let out a long sigh, still tired and in pain she did not want to watch someone. Slowly, she sat up letting out a grunt as she did too, /I must look like hell, and these marks.../ her hands ran over her neck.

Ryou's eyes snapped open and he glanced around, shocked. Why was he alive? He was supposed to be dead! And, though the thought of him being alive gave him slight comfort, it brought a mostly depressed feeling upon him and he frowned.

"Evening." She sighed with a soft grunt.

Ryou stared at the floor. "Why am I here?" 

"Bakura tried fighting for survival I ended up healing you and now you are perfectly fine." She stood, stumbled slightly and headed to the bathroom to clean up her wounds.

'But... But why?' Ryou sat on the couch, head in his lap. 'Why!'

She wrapped her neck and a few spots on both her arms with a bandage then walked out to see him bent over and sighed. "Ryou please..." She said softly not sure what she meant.

"Why won't you let me take my life? It's my body and I should have the right to do so!" Ryou looked up, tears in his eyes but a crazed smile on his lips. "But it's not my body, is it? It's Bakura's body. All I am is in the way of him and his life! That's all anyone has ever thought! I don't get to make my own life decisions, do I! NO I DO NOT!" He ended at a shriek.

She frowned watching and listening to him, "that's not true Ryou. Please don't be this way."

"Be this way? BE THIS WAY! This is how I've always been! A mere shadow in my own bosy, my own bloody LIFE! I have no meaning, no purpose! I don't need to, nor want to live!" Ryou yelled, standing sharply.

Her face tightened listening to him, "Ryou, stop this, seriously. That's not true! Not any more at least"

"It's always been and always will be. I'm nothing but a second no matter how hard I try. The wasted effort is over, Aura. I'm finally done," Ryou deadpanned, walking into the kitchen.

"Ryou enough of this foolishness. Both Bakura and I struggled to keep you alive you both care for you."

"He'll give eventually in exchange for a body of his own. You'll give up too."

"No, Ryou you were my friend before he was. If he leaves you, I will stay with you, because I'm your friend and I care for you. Excuse all the stupid stuff I said and did before. I do not want to lose you and I refuse to stop fighting for you."

"So you say now." Ryou stared at the floor. "They all switch over eventually. It's after Bakura that they all switched over to wanting me dead..."

"No, Ryou I will stay with you, I'm your friend. You're talking nonsense now. You should know how much I fought Bakura just to be your friend and that will never change. I said to you once that you would leave me, and you have proved me countless times that you would stay my friend. Tell me, what do I have to prove to you to show you I care about you? Does saving your life not count for something?" she said harshly.

Ryou bit his lip, not able to meet her eyes. "They always turn... Every last one of them..."

"I won't I swear to you, I promise you. Whatever it takes, I will prove to you, Ryou I will never leave you. Hell, when I did for that brief moment walk from you, I ended up rushing back to you the moment I heard you hurt yourself. Ryou, you're my dearest, and only fried, I will never walk from you again, I swear to it."

The white-haired male was touched by her words, but his stubborn other coat refused to believe them. "They always turn after the coma... Always."

"Ryou I won't! Stop saying it!" she yelled, "I will never ever leave you. Please believe me!"

"How can I? So many others said what you've said and all ended up leaving..." Ryou murmured.

"Ryou, I was in the exact same situation as you, everyone my entire left as promised me what I promise you and left me. I know how that feels, so I will NEVER do that to you."

He walked towards Aura slowly, his eyes sad.

"Ryou, please believe me. Please. I will never leave you again."

Ryou leaned on her shoulder and, shivering, let out a huge sob. He buried his head into her shoulder, tears instantly staining the sleeve.

Though is pained her to move her arms, she wrapped them tightly around him and held him close letting him cry.

Ryou bawled and didn't care how he looked or sounded. They were tears held in for so very long and they all just came pouring out at once.

She didn't say anything, only let him cry into her shoulder as she held him close.

"M-Mom..." Ryou murmured twenty minutes later as his sobs began dying down.

Her heat skipped a beat as she looked at him, "shhh, it's alright Ryou." she nuzzled her head into his hair and closed her eyes, "it's all alright."

"I miss her so much, her and... And A-Amane... And Dad's never around and... and..." He burst into another round of sobs.

She frowned and held him just a bit tighter, "I know Ryou, I'm sorry." She knew it was nearing dawn, which meant employees would start showing up and she needed to check downstairs to make sure everything was cleaned up. Still, she just held him close, shutting her eyes.

Ryou couldn't get himself to stop crying. Every time he seemed to calm down, another wave of horrid memories slammed into him.

She held him close and every couple of minutes she would whisper, "it's alright." until the sun cracked over the horizon.

Finally, after taking several huge breaths, Ryou stepped back from Aura. Almost her entire shirt was soaked through and Ryou blushed slightly.

"It's alright," she smiled and sat him on the couch, "just relax, get some sleep, I need to check on something alright?"

He nodded feebly, laying on the couch. However, he couldn't get to sleep and felt like a kid on a sugar high. Ryou tapped on his legs, feeling jumpy.

She walked downstairs to inspect the entryway, everything had been cleaned up as if nothing happened and she sighed as the mornings first employees started showing up. Going back into her office, she smiled at Ryou.

Ryou, however, was on his feet and pacing the office. 'I feel... High almost...'

She laughed softly watching him run about, /guess you were wrong Bakura. Effects him just as bad as it does you/ she walked towards her desk.

"Aura..." Ryou murmured, frowning. "Do you have any sleeping pills by chance? I can't seem to sleep..." His pace increased.

She laughed, "yea I might," she opened the bottom draw of her desk and opened it up then handed him a bottle, "only take one. There's a glass in the bathroom."

Ryou nodded and went into the bathroom. He glanced down at the bottle, suddenly smiling. 'If I take twenty or thirty of these...

She glanced to the bathroom, "Ryou, if you take any more than one I swear I'll revive you then strangle you myself. You've given my enough heart attacks to last a couple life times. So don't even think about it!"

'Ra bloody damn it,' Sighing, he took one and came back out, handing her the pill bottle then pacing around her office desk.

She put the bottle away and locked the drawer then watched him pace around the office, /maybe one more will settle him down, then again it takes a while before they work/

In the next hour or so, Ryou seemed to grow more and more energetic. He paced faster an dfaster until he was almost sprinting around her office.

By the end of the hour the building was alive with people and although Ryou was running around her office energetic, her whole body hurt and she was more tired than death itself. "Ryou, since you're full of energy, you mind running down and grabbing me a cup of coffee?" she asked with a smile.

Ryou was out of the room in a flash, calling over his shoulder, "Sure!" He returned mere seconds later with a half-spilled mug of coffee, black.

"uh, thanks." she said taking it and sipped it. Standing, she grabbed some paperwork, "can you occupy your time for a while? I have a meeting I have to go to."

Ryou nodded, feeling more and more hyper by the second. "Sure!" he yelled out, unable to keep his voice low.

She laughed softly and nodded, "alright, if you need anything but don't know where it is, ask my secretary, she'll help you." she left the office and went straight to her meeting sipping her coffee.

Ryou nodded more times than necessary, frowning. "Why do I feel so... So active?" he asked himself as h raced around the office.

Her meeting lasted close to two hours before she made it back to the office, in a bad mood. Crossing the office, pausing to let Ryou run past her she sat back at her desk. "If only the shadows did the same for me," she sighed.

"Shadows?" Ryou asked, hopping up and down. "What *hop* shadows?"

She couldn't help but laugh looking up at him, "After Bakura and I healed your body he was weak, so we brought him to the shadow realm, once there he became fully revived and was dancing, hoping and running like you are now. It was quite amusing."

Ryou tried to chuckle, but it came out as a hyper-sounding giggle. "Wow... Well, when will it be over?" He walked circles around her desk.

"I don't know, I ended up leaving Bakura early evening to come here to work. When he came by about midnight he was still hyper though, it took allot for him to calm down."

Ryou sighed, groaning. "I'm sick of jogging!" he said, now jogging backwards. "Why is this happening?"

"I don't know, we both kind of assumed it was an overabundance of energy that somehow had something to do when Bakura tried using my white magic."

"Why would he do that...?" Ryou asked. He had a vague knowledge of the different types of magick.

"I don't know, I guess he wanted to try it, maybe curiosity." she shrugged and shuffled through her papers. "I've wondered the same thing, seeing as using white magic in the shadow realm takes a toll on the body."

Ryou bit his lip. "He has some white magick in him, I think anyway." Ryou slowed his jogging down a tad.

"Well, if he didn't before he does now, after I healed you guys that is." she clicked away at her laptop.

"So..." Ryou stood beside her, drumming his hands on the desk. "What does that mean for him? For me?"

She shrugged, still clicking away at her laptop, "I don't know, it's not like I put black magic into white magic, mixing it that way could be lethal if there isn't already some sort of black magic there. Like with me."

"Like with you?"

Nodding she continued her work, almost oblivious to what she was saying, "yep, I was a Priestess at one point, trained in the art of white magic, I also was allowed to dabble into black magic, though I don't remember much. Bakura uses Black magic and when I healed your body, some of my white magic fused with his."

"So... He has both types of magick within him? Within me?" Ryou asked her.

"Now he does, yea. It wasn't my intention at all, to fuse the magic at least. I was more worried about saving you. I can't remember exactly what Mahad told me about fusing white into black, still bugs me." she scratched at her head.

"...Mahad?" Ryou questioned her.

"The Dark Magician?" she looked over at him, "he was a priest in ancient Egypt, he became the Dark Magician."

"Interesting..." Ryou murmured. "What if you summoned the card? Could that help?"

"Like summon the Dark Magician?" she asked looking away thinking, "you know I never thought of that, I suppose it is his spirit monster so in essence it should be him. But I don't have that card, the only one I know that does is Yugi."

Ryou shrugged. "So ask him. Or I will if you want."

She shrugged, "doesn't matter either way, it's the weekend, so if he's not out in town he should be home right?" she smiled.

He nodded, already partially out the door. "Be back soon!"

She watched him run out and smile, "well at least now I can relax a bit." she sat back in her chair and her phone went off. Growling she answered it and dived back into her work waiting for Ryou.


	21. Chapter 21

Meanwhile, Ryou neared the Turtle Game Shop after about five minutes of straight up sprinting. He entered.

Aura sighed rubbing her eyes, "this is exhausting, I need sleep," she sighed to herself having her secretary bring another cup of coffee.

Ryou returned about an hour later, card in his hand. After a ton of dodged questions, Yugi had finally caved.

The door opened and she looked over hanging up the phone, "got it?" she asked with a smile

He nodded, handing her the card. "It's here alright."

She took it smiling, "now, I really don't know if this is going to work." she sighed softly then told her secretary to not bother them for any reason. She followed it by locking the door, then looked at the card taking a deep breath.

Ryou sat against the wall, unconsciously drumming his fingers against the floor.

/this is going to kill me,/ she thought and closed her eyes concentrating, after a moment, she began muttering a chant, then rose the card up in the air, there was a bright flash of light and she closed her eyes. /please work, please work/ she thought

Ryou watched until Bakura took over, watching even closer and more interested.

Opening her eyes she was shocked, "cool, I did it." she smiled wiping sweat from her forehead and managed to steady her breath. "Dark Magician, I have a question, are you indeed Mahad?" she asked, oblivious that Bakura was now there, not Ryou.

Bakura folded a hand in his lap, the other still drumming.

For a moment the Magician and her only crossed glances, staring at one another and she smiled just as he did, "Princess I presume? You've hardly changed over the millenia." he said and she breathed sighing in relief.

Bakura bit back a chuckle as he watched.

"Mahad," she smiled. "I was summoned you because I was curious about the magic you taught me." he only nodded, "I remember what you said about when black magic infuses with white magic, but I can't remember what you said about when white infuses with black."

Bakura continued watching them.

He frowned narrowing his eyes on her, "why is it you ask this?" he asked.  
>"Well we kind of fused white into dark."<p>

Bakura sat up straighter, eyes focused on the two.

He looked displeased, "it's the same with mixing black into white if done properly the user will enhance their powers to a point where it will be hard to control also they should experience an overabundance of energy. Same thing happens both ways. Please tell me you trust the person you enfused your magic with." He said

Bakura stood, amused. "You called?" he said, feigning innocence.

The magician looked towards Bakura and only a moment passed before his eyes went wide "I sense an immense darkness from you. My lady you didn't," He said looking back at her and she smiled a bit

Bakura smirked. "You and your compliments..."

"Yea, I kinda did," she said, "I was trying to heal him and well things just kind of happened that way." the Magician looked back at Bakura.  
>"I remember you, you were the thief who killed me." he turned the staff towards him, she quickly moved forward and stepped between them.<p>

Bakura chuckled lowly. "And your point is...?" he said in amusement.

"Alright, first of all, we're in my office, so there will be no fighting here. Mahad, lower your staff," she growled and he did. "What I did to Bakura was an accident, I didn't intend on fusing my magic with him alright?"  
>He nodded, "Very well, but by being the cause you are also held responsible for any of his actions, now that you have helped his powers increase. Be forewarned princess." he said and she grunted.<p>

'Powers increase, hmm?' Bakura grinned darkly, the words music to his ears.

"I really think you've said too much Mahad," she said rubbing her eyes. "Thank you for all of your help, you can rest now."  
>"As my lady wishes," he bowed and disappeared.<br>"Absolutely great," she growled sitting on the couch.

'Power increase, heheheh...' Bakura sat beside Aura, his thoughts elsewhere.

She ran her hands over her face thinking, /his actions, that means either way I'm screwed, but he also said it happens both ways, so maybe I could become just as powerful to stop him if I had to?/ she thought

"What's up?" Bakura asked, finally pulling himself from his thoughts.

She looked over at him, "when did you decide to pop back in?" she asked.

He shrugged. "When you summoned Mahad," he told her.

"Oh joy," she rolled her eyes sitting back on the couch and closing her eyes, "just be good until I can figure out how to use black magic alright?" she sighed

Bakura looked at her sharply, frowning. "What are you talking about? Why would you learn that?"

A thin grin appeared on her face, "why did you want to use white magic?"

"I didn't," he hissed.

"Liar," she opened her eyes looking over at him, "you did too, you asked me to teach you one of my spells, my magic is white magic, therefore you wanted to learn white magic."

"I was bored and had nothing better to do," he then replied in all honesty. "I couldn't care less about white magick."

"Blah blah blah is all I hear coming out of your mouth," she teased resting her head back and closing her eyes again. "Doesn't matter much whether you help me or not, I can always do it myself."

"Why would you even want to?" he asked in annoyance. "The only reason I'm in this mess is because of curiosity. Don't bloody follow my direction!" he said.

She laughed, "you heard what Mahad said, your power has grown, allot. I can't trust you to run around with that power without being able to keep you in check, so if the same thing works for me as it does you, I want to give it a shot, besides I've messed around with black magic before, what would the harm be doing it now?"

Bakura sighed, groaning. "I can control myself," he told her. "At least give me a chance to handle things before you go drabbling into dark magick once more."

She shrugged, "fair enough, last thing I want is to lose control and end up almost killing you." she chuckled, "too bad for you, you got pretty close." she ran her hand over the bandage around her neck

He sighed upon seeing it. "A one time fluke," Bakura promised her.

"Sure, just like all the other 'one time flukes'" she laughed loudly thought it hurt for a moment.

"Like...?" Bakura asked, frowning.

"Come on, how many times have you tried to kill me and failed?" she lifted her head and opened her eyes thinking. "hmm, four maybe five times total, not counting what happened last night."

"I'm done trying to kill you on purpose, Aura. It's not fun anymore," he told her, rolling his eyes.

"Splendid, that means I get to live on pestering you." she chuckled.

He rolled his eyes one more, smirking. "Yeah, yeah..."

"Oh joyous day!" she teased, "never did I expect to hear such words from you." just to piss him off she ruffled his hair and stood, "well, I'm off to return the card to Yugi, care to join?"

He slapped her and, though lightly, still left a red mark on her arm. "Sure, whatever."

She shot him a glare but smiled and headed out of the office out onto the street, where , instead of calling for her car, she walked down the street.

Bakura jogged circles around her as they walked, still hyped up on energy. "Ra..."

She watched him and chuckled, "maybe I should have had you summon Mahad, you could lose the energy."

He nodded. "I suppose..." 'Though I could probably summon ten of him with all this energy..'

"I wouldn't doubt it, seeing you dance like this." she said walking around a corner. "it's amusing if I should say so."

He shot her a glare. "Irritating is more like it," he muttered.

"for you, maybe." she laughed, "I'm finding this amusing Mr. Dark-and-gloomy, all full of energy and jumping around like some puppy."

He kicked her as he jogged around her. "It's not my fault!" he yelled as he walked forward, tripped, and began to fall only to fall through a portal and vanish.

"ow hey!" she looked over to see him tripping then vanished. "God, not this again." she turned around looking for him.

However, he didn't appear for some time.

Grunting, she turned back around and crossed her arms. "I'm so not waiting forever for you to show up." she growled.

From right in front of her face, Bakura's head alone popped out. "Uh, hi."

She freaked and stepped back, slowly she reached forward and poked his forehead, "how are you doing that?"

He looked down. "Um... I'm really not sure..." Just as confused as she was, he vanished once more and appeared beside her, whole once more.

Jumping when he appeared next to her she took a deep breath, "I really hate it when you do that." without waiting, she started waking forward again.

He followed after her mumbling, "It's not like I try to do it..."

She glanced back at him smiling, "keep up puppy." she laughed as she rounded another corner, the game shop in sight.

"Bitch," Bakura replied.

"Oh, that's so cold. Why do you hate me so much Bakura?" she pouted turning towards him and walking backwards towards the shop.

"Because you make it so easy to do so," he mused.

She laughed aloud, "at least I know I'm doing something right." turning on her heel she turned back around and opened the door to the game shop walking inside. "Yugi!" she called out.

Bakura followed, now bored.

There was a quick patter of feet and Yugi appeared from down the steps, "hey Yugi, I just wanted to return this." she said handing him the card. "just needed to see a friend."

Yugi smiled politely and nodded. "Thank you so much for returning it without damage!"

"Sure, and of course if any damage was done to it, I would have made a new one, personally." she smiled, "thanks for trusting Ryou with it, it means allot." to add salt to the wound she wrapped an arm around Bakura like she would with Ryou.

Bakura glared deeply at her and shoved her off. Yugi, feeling a tad awkward, smiled and nodded once more. "Yes, thank you."

"No problem, see you in school!" she waived him off then exited the game shop, as soon as she was on the sidewalk she laughed, /this is too fun!/ she thought

The moment they left, Bakura slapped her roughly.  
>"Never again."<p>

She chuckled rubbing her cheek, "you need to relax. The more aggravated you get, the more amusing it is for me."

"That's it." Bakura stopped. "I am under no circumstances someone else's amusement." He turned to glare at her.

She looked at him, still smiling then raised an eyebrow, "oh? Is Mr. Prince of Darkness upset now?"

Bakura's glare only increased. "Fine, be that way. I'm going home." Flicking her off, he vanished in a cloud of fast-fading mist.

She rolled her eyes shaking her head, "puppy." turning, she went home /at least I can get some rest now/

Meanwhile, Bakura went home to sprint laps in his house.

Showering, then taking a three hour nap, she woke up grunting and dressed moving down into the kitchen to grab food.

Meanwhile, Ryou was at home preparing his supplies for school the next day.

Sighing she lounged around the house with Mokuba and later than night decided to head to bed early.

Ryou spent the entire night pacing as he finished all the assignments he was behind on.

The next morning she decided to walk to school since it was a nice day, Seto skipped like her normally did but Mokuba walked along with her, the path to his school would cut right past Ryou's house, so she knocked on his door as she passed.

No one answered immediately, but Ryou called out, "Coming!" A few minutes later, he opened the door. He had large bags under his eyes as he smiled at the two. "Hey."

"Hey, couldn't sleep?" she asked with a smile.

"More like couldn't sit still!" Ryou retorted, joining the two and walking. "At least I got my homework done though."

She laughed, "I'm surprised you could sit down long enough to do it."  
>Mokuba looked over at Ryou, "did you eat too much candy or something?"<p>

"Uh, I didn't sit all night Aura," Ryou told her, then turned to Mokuba. "Yeah," he lied.

"Yea, I know how that is," he laughed looking away and Aura giggled looking up at Ryou.  
>"Sorry to hear Ryou, maybe eat the candy in smaller doses?" They came up to Mokuba's school, he hugged her than ran inside, she then continued down the street.<p>

"Cute kid," Ryou murmured. "If only it were due to candy..."

"Yea, he's fun, he's just as energetic as either of you when you're all hyped up." she smiled, "but it's all the time with him. Other than the energy, how are you feeling?"

Ryou shrugged. "I feel... Odd. Like two things in me keep clashing. The magic I suppose?"

"I don't know, most likely, I'm sure in time everything will settle down, until then you'll just have to bier with it."

He sighed. "I sure hope so..." Ryou murmured as they neared the entrance.

She followed him inside the building and straight into the classroom. "well, I guess only time will tell," she sighed looking at Ryou.

Ryou sat in his desk, immediately switching to tapping his foot. He sighed, laying his head on the desk.

She chuckled resting at her seat and crossing her arms /I wonder what could relax him, something other than fighting/

Ryou found focusing in class almost impossible as he tapped, drummed, and fidgeted all day in his seat.

Aura watched him out of the corner of her eye and chuckled softly, paying attention to the teacher though it was mundane and boring

Finally, Ryou could take it no longer. He asked to get a drink so that he could stretch his legs.

Eyeing him as he left she waited a moment before she stood and left as well without saying a word. Following him out into the hallways she smiled, "everything alright?"

Ryou shook his head and puke into a nearby garbage can. "I'm fine now," he murmured.

She lost her smile, "why are you puking?"

He shrugged, breathing deeply.  
>"Hell if I know..."<p>

"After school, we'll go back to my place, try a bunch of remedies see if we can't find some mix to calm you even a bit."

He nodded thankfully. "Thanks, Aura!"

She smiled again nodding, "sure thing, are you feeling alright to go back to class?"

Ryou nodded. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

She nodded back and returned back to the classroom. Now her mind was running through different foods, drink and medicines to help him rather than paying attention

After a few classes and lunch, the final class Ryou had was gym.

When final period came around, she had a study period where she would normally go to her office, but she stuck around in the yard doing her homework and enjoying the sun.

Ryou's class was outside doing the one sport a boy like Ryou typically failed at: football. They were currently funning laps to warm up.

Glancing up from her paperwork she watched the gym class run laps and chuckled looking back down.

Shocking everyone, Ryou was at the front of the pack sprinting. After a few minutes, the actual game started.

Aura couldn't help but look over again as the game began, a thin smile appearing, "this should be interesting."

And interesting it was. Ryou dominated the game in a way he had never done before. He crushed the other players and managed to outrun every single jock in the class. The gym teacher, along with the students, were dumbfounded at this sudden transformation.

She watched in disbelief, either Ryou was secretly an amazing student, Bakura had randomly appeared, or somehow the powers enhanced Ryou's abilities as well. With a little hum, she began notching down notes about it.

By the time gym was over, Ryou had shown everyone and he wasn't even sweating.

Aura, with another hum scribbled more down in her notebook as if she was inspecting some test subject.

Ryou stretched high into the air but then frowned as a teacher came up to him. His expression went from confusion to hurt to anger in a flash and Ryou stormed back into the locker room.

"Interesting," she chuckled watching him disappear into the building, then wrote something else down. "oh testing is so much fun."

The bell rang a few minutes later and Ryou stormed out of the building furiously muttering to himself.

By the time the school bell rang she already had her stuff packed away and was standing on the sidewalk waiting for Ryou.

Ryou unknowingly stomped past her, his eyes narrowed in rage and fists clenched tightly.

She followed after him quickly, "hey, what's wrong?"

He turned to her, trying to smile but his response came out as a hiss. "That motherfucking teacher!" he yelled, cursing colorfully in a way he usually didn't partake in.

She was taken aback and blinked staring at him, "what did he do?"

"He... He..." Ryou screamed in frustration and, in his rage, kicked a trashcan over and left a huge dent in the metal.

"Ryou, deep breath, try to calm yourself," she said ignoring the mess of trash now all over the ground.

"How can I be calm!" He yelled then lowered his voice. "The gym teacher thinks I'm on steroids!"

"Steroids?" she muttered and smiled, "it's alright, that's quite an easy fix actually. All it would take is one phone call, the teacher would be fired and no one would question you again." she tried consoling him.

"But to even THINK it!" Ryou raged. "To even CONSIDER it! Me, an A student and probably the only reason this school gets such high remarks! How dare he!"

"I know but raging about it isn't going to solve anything." she watched him, "you need to have a level head or things will blow out of proportion."

"I think it was HIM who blew things out of proportion!" Try as he did, he couldn't seem to calm down. "I should march back there right now and give him a piece of my mind!"

"No, no, no, don't do that, let's just head to my house, we'll get things settled there." she said.

Ryou turned around and started walking back. "It'll only take a minute, I'll meet you there," he told her.

"No, absolutely not!" she jumped in front of him, "you aren't going back there. You're enraged you'll do something you'll regret later."

The white-haired male pushed her out of his way. "I'm leaving and you aren't going to stop me!"

"Ryou, stop this, you're being ridiculous!" she followed after him. "what do you plan on doing once you get there?"

"..." Ryou didn't respond as he approached the building and walked inside.

She remained close by his side, worried that this was going to turn ugly before she could stop it

He made his way all the way to the locker room before turning to her. "You can't come in," he said simply. "I'll meet you in a few minutes."

She grunted, "Ryou, don't do anything stupid, I'm serious!"

He didn't answer as the door to the locker room slammed behind him.

As soon as he was gone, she paced the hallway before the door, "I should just go in, just go, he's gonna do something stupid I know it."

There was silence for a few minutes, then hushed, angered voices. They grew louder and louder by the minute.

She hesitated opening the door and as the voices got louder she grabbed the handle of the door

There was a sudden yell followed by an enraged scream. Yells grew louder and louder until there was a chilled silence. Ryou opened the door and walked out, right passed Aura.

She stood there dumbstruck, "Ryou what just happened in there?" she asked walking up to him.

"Nothing of importance," Ryou said simply.

She growled in anger and grabbed his arm stopping him, "Ryou, what the hell happened in there?" she snapped.

He yanked it away from her, eyes growing almost as dark as Bakura's natural eyes. "Nothing!" he said in a tone of anger but laced with fear.

"You're a horrible liar! Now tell me!" she matched his stare, glaring at him

Ryou's bottom lip quivered slightly as he felt the act crumbling before his eyes. "N-Nothing..."

"Ryou, stop playing games, I need to know what you just did in there. Or so help me, I'll go in there now and find out myself!" she growled angrily.

"NO!" Ryou screamed suddenly, grabbing her arm painfully tight. "Don't go in there!"

"Then tell me, now." she said wincing in pain, trying her best to hide it from her face. This grip was unlike Ryou.

The white-haired boy shuddered, staring at the floor. His grip grew unconsciously tighter as he whispered, "It's nothing. I want to go home now."

She grunted in pain, "Ryou." her face tightened.

"Now, Aura," he deadpanned quietly, finally releasing her. He turned and walked off down the hallway.

She rubbed her arm but didn't move, "not until you either tell me what you did or I walk in there and find out for myself."

But Ryou was already down the hall and out of sight, a tear sliding down his cheek as he thought, horrified with himself, 'What the hell happened...?

Turning, she walked down to the locker room and paused, then slowly opened the door

The room was, to say the very least, torn apart. There were huge, deep dents made in the lockers and papers thrown all over the floor, speckled with red. It was completely empty, but signs of struggle were prominent.

"S-shit," she stuttered and closed the door stepping out into the hallway and pulled out her cell phone. "I have another mess...no, at the high school, boys locker room." she ran her hand down her face. "I pay you to clean this mess, not ask questions, just get down here asap." she hung up and grunted. "Damn it Ryou."

Ryou, meanwhile, was waiting outside for Aura and shivering. 'Those... Those things... What was it? What even happened?'

Not more than five or ten minutes passed before a man was standing in front of her. "use the budget, replace what needs to be, you know the drill." she said and he nodded. He walked into the room as she walked down the hallway, pissed off. She met up with Ryou, "let's go." she started walking

Ryou shivered, nodding and following after her wordlessly.

She walked down the sidewalk thinking, /how many times am I going to have to cover his tracks?/ she glanced over at Ryou, /he probably doesn't even know what he did./

The white-haired male stared at his feet as they walked, shuddering still. 'What were those... Those... And why..'

"What happened?" she asked him lightly looking over at him, "if you don't know what happened at least try to explain what you saw."

Ryou, sighing, finally caved. "It all seems kind of blurred. I walked in, furious, and started talking with the coach. He was trying to calm me down, but I wasn't listening to him. Then... Then..." Ryou broke off.

She grunted. "Ryou, it's important you tell me everything you remember."

He leaned on her as they walked, laying his head on her shoulder. "Well, it was like the stuff that's in the Shadow Realm appeared out of nowhere. I don't know how or why, but it was suddenly everywhere. I heard screams and a few crashes, and..." He was shivering harder now. "I... Don't know... What else..."

"Like dark whips or rope?" she asked moving to wrap an arm around his shoulder. "or more than that?"

"E-Exactly like that..." Ryou whispered. "There were so many and they were everywhere... There was more, but I can't quite remember it..."

"That's alright, you don't have too anymore." she walked him into the large mansion and down the hall to the living room where she sat him on the couch. "everything's being taken care of, so don't worry."

Ryou nodded slowly before a bright flash lit up the living room. When it vanished, Bakura was sitting before Aura.

When the light faded she stood upright and frowned, "care to explain how he was able to do that?" she asked him.

"Do what?" Bakura asked her, stretching out on the couch. "I've been asleep all morning."

"Of course you have." she sat on the couch across from him and rubbed her eyes, "well Ryou killed someone."

"He did? Oh, I'm so proud of him!" Bakura feigned a teary-eyed expression. "They grow up so fast..."

"Shut up Bakura," she sighed. "he's really messed up right now." she wanted to go on but she doubted Bakura cared. "never mind."

Bakura laughed. "Sorry, I just find it funny that you think I'd believe something like that. I mean, Ryou? He's pathetic!"

"That's why I'm just as shocked as you are. You said yourself last night, you wondered if the effects of the mixing carried over onto him, well I think it did. Bakura, I'm serious, he killed a teacher, I think I covered it up well enough but his anger is out of control."

Bakura stopped laughing. "You're... Serious?"

She nodded, "yea and his strength's increased." she removed her jacket and raised her arm, where a dark bruise shaped almost like a hand print sat on her forearm.

Bakura stared at it, shocked. "He... did that? Ryou?"

She nodded then lowered her arm, "I don't think he realized what he was doing, with me or the teacher. I mean he was enraged, it was intense. I tried talking him out of it but that didn't work too well."

"...And this is Ryou you're talking about?" Bakura couldn't wrap his head around it. "He's so level-headed... I don't think he physically gets mad!"

"It sure as hell wasn't you." she growled, "he was full of energy this morning, then through the day I think his mood went downhill, he was puking in the hall. Then during gym, he was playing football all of his skills increased, speed, agility, everything, the teacher accused him of using drugs and he went off." she sighed and pulled the same small notebook out as before then began scribbling in it.

He stared, utterly shocked. "Woah, woah, woah! Slow down! Ryou's doing drugs? And him? Athletic? The two don't mix at all!"

"No, no gah, baka." she rubbed her eyes sighing, "he was extremely good athletically, so I began watching him curious myself. The teacher accused him of doing drugs, I never said he was doing them." she continued writing something down.

"...So now he's a jock?" Bakura asked, still confused.

She sighed and glared at him, "are you even paying attention or am I the only one who's even slightly understanding this?"

"You're the only one," Bakura deadpanned, tapping his fingers on his leg.

"Of course I am, cause you can't pass a test without taking notes, and guess what?" she sighed and then grinned holding up the notebook, "I've been keeping notes on you two."

"The hell?" Bakura stood. "What, why?" He walked over to her, then stood while tapping his foot.

"Well, I needed to keep tabs," she looked down at the book opening it up again ignoring him. "I needed to figure things out, and since I think analytically it helps if I see it on paper. So I can read it over and not miss a note."

He rolled his eyes. "So, did you figure anything out exactly?" he asked, "Or was it a waste of time?"

"It just started, besides Rome wasn't built in a day." she sat back on the couch and kicked her feet on the table reading her notes with the end of the pen in her mouth thinking. "all I do know is this." she looking over and dropped the book onto the couch as she used her hands to talk, shaping the images. "Image your body as an empty cup, the water you pour into the cup slowly fills it up right? Well, what happens once it reaches the top of the cup?"

Bakura thought for a moment. "It spills?"

"Exactly. but, the water never stops flowing, so it just keeps overflowing, but that water has to go somewhere. For you, your soul was so over-tapped with power when we fused my white into your black that it overflowed into Ryou and now he's sharing it with you." she sighed, "at least that's what I'm assuming."

"...So you're telling me that Ryou too can harness dark magick?" Bakura thought for a moment. "And what happens when both cups are filled to the top...?"

She thought, "it all goes somewhere."

"But... Where exactly is the question..." Bakura murmured, staring down at his hands.

She shook her head, "I honestly don't know, normally I'd suggest drinking the water to make room. but as we've discovered that's quite dangerous."

He sighed, nodding. "Well, what do we do when both cups are filled then...?"

"You have to dump them out," she muttered tapping the pen rapidly on her knee.

"You do realize that could destroy all of Domino, right?" he asked her honestly. He began drumming his fingers as his feet kept tapping.

She frowned but didn't answer, she only sat there thinking. /I wonder if I can design a machine to read power levels within a body/ she thought, /something/

Bakura stood, pacing and thinking. 'I wonder... Aura said Ryou brought out that power when he was enraged. Could it be..?'


	22. Chapter 22

As she was thinking she glanced up, "may I draw blood from you?" she asked randomly

"Only if I can draw blood from you," he retorted simply.

She sighed, "fine, whatever." she stood, "come on." she walked from the room and down the hall stopping at a wall she opened up a secret panel, punched in numbers and an elevator opened. She stepped inside and rode it down to the lab.

"I get to go first though," he told her as they stepped into the elevator, smirking all the while.

She growled something under her breathe, "fine, I don't care."

He smirked at her, eyeing her neck.

Her eyes narrowed on him, "maybe I should draw your blood first I'm only taking a little bit of yours."

"No, we agreed already," he said simply. "And besides, why do you want my blood?"

"I have an idea, I just need to run some tests," she said.

He shrugged. "Whatever."

"Well, get it over with," she growled crossing her arms.

"Not until I have your blood first," he stated simply.

"You're daft. That's why I said get it over with, I don't think you'll use medical standards so do whatever you're gonna do."

He rolled his eyes, then pinned her against the wall of the elevator. He clamped his mouth around her neck, biting lightly at first.

She grunted when her back hit the wall and when she felt his teeth she closed her eyes and bit down on her lip, waiting.

With no warning, Bakura tore the skin on her neck and felt himself smile as blood began flowing at a fast pace into his mouth.

She let out a sharp and loud moan then quickly bit down on her lip refusing to make another sound.

Bakura shoved her into the wall with more pressure, tearing the skin on her neck more to get a larger mouthful of blood.

She grunted very softly, her teeth split her lip open but she didn't stop biting down. Her hands fell to his shoulder and gripped onto him.

Bakura sucked long and hard, draining her quickly and making himself feel light and floaty. It was like being in the Shadow Realm, he couldn't get himself to stop taking it in.

Beginning to feel dizzy and lightheaded her hands loosened on his arms, "Bakura," she grunted barely above a whisper.

The white-haired male only pressed down harder, his grip on her shoulders becoming tighter by the minute.

"Stop," she growled trying to push him off but she was too weak, she could feel her knees giving out beneath her as her vision began clouding over. /Damn it, Stop!/ she screamed mentally and tried concentrating on what little power she had left

Bakura felt her knees give because she was sinking, but held her up with his arms. 'Shit, that's enough!' He tore his lips from her neck finally, and took a few steps back from her panting slightly.

As soon as he left her she crumbled to the ground and sat against the wall struggling to breathe right, her other hand grabbed the wound.

'Shit, I just wanted a taste!' He kept himself in the corner of the elevator, knowing that even taking a half step forward would land him on her neck again.

She just sat there, not finding the strength to move at all. /damn it/ she thought her hand kept slipping from her neck but she kept it in place. /I need to seal this.../

Bakura bit his lip hard enough to draw blood then slowly approached her. He moved her hand and put his own on her neck, applying pressure to heal it up.

She was silent, letting him hold the wound until she found enough strength to talk, "I told you...to let me...go first." she forced a smile though it was twisted.

He sighed heavily. "I was hungry," he said as if this justified everything.

"You're always...hungry," she chuckled though it ended up in a cough. "gotta heal it."

He sighed, then muttered, "I'm sorry about that..." Then, louder, "Will you be alright after healing yourself?"

"I think, maybe." she rose her hand and without thinking placed it over his and there was a soft white light, it faded and her hand dropped to her lap

"...Any better?" Bakura asked. He peered down at the wound.

"It's sealed for now, I just need to rest for a moment." she sighed taking a deep breath

Bakura moved to the other edge of the elevator and leaned against the wall, watching Aura carefully.

She closed her eyes and just relaxed for a while, she wasn't sure how long it was but when she opened her eyes the light hurt.

Bakura had gotten to a seated position, dozing off a tad bit as well. His head was leaned back against the wall of the elevator and his mouth hung open slightly to reveal the tip of a fang poking out.

After a moment, when her eyes adjusted so used the wall to stand then slowly stumbled her way into the lab

Bakura woke up shortly after and, seeing her leave, followed her down the hall and to the lab.

Stopping at a locked door she leaned against the wall besides the security panel and reached into her pocket pulling out something that looked like a duel monsters card, then swiping it through, the door opened.

Bakura watched carefully, still following after her. He glanced around the lab.

She collapsed in a chair near the center of the room and let out a frustrated grunt, "I'm alright, just tired." she said to no body and rubbed her eyes. "alright, blood work."

"You seem pretty tired..." Bakura replied but walked towards her. "What do I have to do exactly?"

She chuckled looking over at him, "that is why I have a wheelie chair." she kicked her foot against the ground and slid across the room, "you're going to have to stab yourself though, I won't have the concentration." she muttered not thinking, "with a needle, with a needle!"

"...You want me to stab myself with a needle? Am I hearing you right?" Bakura just looked at her.

She sighed rubbing her eyes grabbing a large bag, "not just stab, you know what never mind cause I'm going to show you how to do it on me, while I try to regain some blood." she tossed the bag on the table in the center of the room then moved to the fridge grabbing a bag of blood, "this should do for now."

Bakura stared at the blood bag, his eyes unblinking.

She placed it on the table beside the bag and then ripped the large bag open grabbing the needle and a couple other things. "simple, tie the tourniquet on the arm." she tied it on her arm, "prep the needle, make sure you see the vein and then slowly punctured then vein. Then your job is done." she then worked at hanging the blood bag and attaching it to the needle as she relaxed letting the cold blood adjust to her body

Bakura watched her work, nodding his head slightly. "I see..."

"Now we just have to wait until I can see straight and this bag goes empty and I can do you," she sighed.

"So why are you trying to give me more blood? I have plenty..." Bakura murmured.

He nodded, drumming his fingers on his leg.

"Be patient, this part kind of takes time it's kind of why I asked to do you first before you took from me."

He sighed, standing up to pace the area. "How long then? An hour?"

She glanced up at the bag, "ten fifteen minutes more maybe."

Bakura groaned. "That's still a while!" he complained, leaning on her shoulder as he made a lap around the lab.

Smiling, she watched him run about and shook her head, "I'm sorry, I can't do much to hurry it up."

He sighed once more, shrugged, then continued pacing. "Aura, what do you think this blood test will show you?" he asked her after a few minutes.

"I want to design a machine or a way to measure power levels within a human body, but first I need to find what makes it so different."

"What makes what so different" Bakura asked for clarification. "And how will that help?"

She smiled, "There has to be something different between people like us and normal humans, if I can figure out what I may be able to create a scale to measure levels of power within the body, then I can easily shrink it down to a watch and put it in something small, unnoticeable, and it would warn you before you overfilled both the cups."

Bakura nodded, understanding her plan. "I see... And you think this will work out? More, you think you can figure it out?"

"I'm pretty smart, so I think I can figure it out, it might just take time, and lots of testing." she pulled the needle out of her arm and quickly bandaged it up.  
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"It better not take longer than it does to fill up both cups..." Bakura muttered to himself, taking a seat beside her and tapping his foot impatiently.

"I'd love to complete it that fast, unfortunately building technology that I have to create from scratch could take years." she frowned and grabbed the stuff to draw blood from him. Standing in front of him, she grabbed his arm and cleaned it up with rubbing alcohol

"Years? Domino City could be a pile of rubble by then..." Bakura moved his arm from her. "And why are you rubbing stuff on me? Just stab and get it over with." 

Pulled his arm back, "its standard practice," she looked for a vein, when she couldn't find it, she lightly slapped his arm. "There that vein put the needle in there." she handed him the needle.

Bakura took the needle and, after looking it over a bit, stabbed it deeply into his arm. However, he completely missed the vein.

"You're such an idiot!" she removed the needle then placed her hand over the wound, healing it quickly, without a second thought. "I'll do it, just sit there."

Bakura felt dizzy from suddenly being exposed to white magick but tried to hide it from her. "Okay," he murmured.

Slowly and carefully she put the needle into his vein then began drawing blood, filling up little vials.

Bakura felt himself grow lightheaded and tried gripping onto a counter for support. His vision started growing black. "A-Aura.."

"Shit." she pulled the needle out tossing it to the side then placed her hand over the wound, bandaging it; then, sat him on the counter, "are you alright?"

Bakura tried to answer, but instead felt his body give out on his. He slid off the counter and fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Shit," she repeated and rolled him onto his back. She had no idea why he passed out and nearly panicked trying to figure out what to do.

Bakura's breathing was ragged as he seemed to be gasping for air more than actually taking it in.

Her mind was racing, "it's not from blood, I didn't take enough for him to be breathing like that." she scratched her head, "alright I'm gonna have to do it." touching him she opened a portal to the shadow realm and dragged him inside laying him down.

The white-haired male seemed to glow slightly in the depths of the Shadow Realm. Instead of being hidden by the darkness as per usual, he had a faint white shield around him preventing shadows from getting too close.

She looked confused at the shield, /how did he manage to do that?/ she moved forward and touched the shield, /weird/

While the shield itself was holding up nicely, Bakura inside the shield was growing paler and weaker by the minute.

Using a counter spell, she moved into the shield and picked him up, holding him against her. She began thinking wondering what she could do, when a spell came to her mind /it's risky but...I can do it/

Waking up partially, Bakura looked up feebly into Aura's eyes. His usually glowing crimson ones now looked dull and almost brown.

She looked at him, "hold on, I'm going to help you." she said softly seeing his eyes part. "Rest if you need too"

Without a word, Bakura's eyes closed. He tried to breathe calmly, but still kept a ragged sound to his gasps.

Frowning, she began chanting a spell she heard him say couple times before. She felt an immense pain within her but didn't stop, her hands began forming the same black mist that made up the shadows as she rest her hand against his chest. /just get better/ she thought closing her eyes.

Bakura's breathing grew more and more irregular as his eyes shot open. "N-" He looked at her and, using all the strength he had, clapped a hand to her mouth. He sat up slowly, very slowly, and murmured, "No..."

She looked at him for a moment and stared at him confused. /was I hurting him more?/

"I w-won't let you... Use..." He had to keep breaking off in order to get enough air into his lungs. "Black magick." Bakura narrowed his eyes a fraction.

She pulled his hand away "you're stubborn, it doesn't matter, your health is more important to me than if I mix my magic"

"N-No!" Bakura managed to shout. "It... Just no..." He leaned on her shoulder, smiling faintly. "I'll be fine... Just... Give me a m-minute."

She frowned but nodded and didn't removed her arms from him. /if you're sure/ she thought still worried

'I can't let her mix... I have to stay strong, put out a tough front...' Slowly, Bakura rose to a standing position and panted heavily. Shadows danced at his feet and Bakura took a deep breath.

She watched him frowning, "sit down you can't even breath right." she said standing, "you'll pass out again, just relax."

"I'm... Fine!" Bakura hissed, then had to take a deep breath before continuing. "This... Is nothing..."

Looks at him, "you're a horrible liar," she said simply.

He glared at her. "I will... Be fine then..." Bakura did, however, lay back down.

Shakes her head sitting beside him, but didn't say anything. She only grumbled to herself, thinking.

Bakura sighed from the ground, poking her arm. "You... Worry too much."

She looked back at him smiling, "yea, I know."

"Then... Calm down," he told her. "I'll be... Fine."

She shook her head, "Not with you being like this I won't."

Bakura sighed deeply, then almost at one had to gasp for breath. "I'm okay... Truly." Finally, the shadows that were playing towards his feet were being soaked in.

She studied his face for a moment then nodded slowly, "fine, but I won't stop worrying."

Bakura poked her cheek, chuckling. A small bout of mist fell to Aura's face.

She looked at him, the mist tingled on her skin but didn't faze her. Finally a small smile appeared on her face as she shook her head.

"Well? Feeling... Better?" he asked her, stretching his arms out and easily absorbing the shadows around him now. His eyes began to glow faintly.

She nodded, "yea I feel fine. What about you?"

Bakura yawned and sat up. "Better I suppose," he replied. His eyes were now illuminated in the darkness to their normal standard.

"You suppose?" she looked at him, "is there something wrong?"

Bakura shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he lied.

She narrowed her eyes on him and lightly punched his shoulder, "stop lying to me."

He sighed, frowning. "Well, I'm a bit worried being here..."

She stared at him, confused, "why?"

"Won't this time in the Shadow Realm increase my power even more making the glass fill up faster?" he asked her.

"If you use your abilities, it would be like drinking the water." she stood and simply opened a portal, "let's go anyway."

Bakura nodded and hopped through the portal.


	23. Chapter 23

She closed it behind him and sighed, the needle and vial where now on the ground and there was a puddle of blood. Grunting she walked across the room grabbing a roll of paper towels then began cleaning it up

Bakura pushed her aside a bit, frowning. "Why clean it up?" he asked her, sitting down and scooping a bit onto his finger to lick.

She growled, "I'm not in the mood for your antics." she continued cleaning it up tossing the towels into the trash as she went along

He managed another finger in the blood before she cleaned it completely. "Well, that was a waste..." he muttered.

She grabbed the needle, and tossed it into the proper can then rubbed her eyes. "forget the tests, I'll use my own blood."

Bakura sighed. "No, let me try it again. I'll be fine this time."

Without answering him, she grabbed another set of supplies, "sit down this time."

Bakura did as he was told.

She walked over to him and kneeled beside him then within a matter of seconds had the needle in his arm and began filling one of the vials.

Bakura watched her work, not feeling dizzy in the slightest. Each vial of blood, while clearly red, was tinted slightly with a blackish hue.

She remained silent the entire time, removed the needle, covered the wound and grabbed everything walking over to the counter where she set the vials down then grabbed the notebook and wrote something down.

"What are you writing now?" Bakura asked, finally shattering the stillness in the air.

She closed the book setting it aside. "Your blood is almost an unnatural color." she said simply and continued working, thinking she grabbed another set of supplies and cleaned off her arm

"What? No it isn't," he told her. "How is it 'unnatural'?"

"Ok, maybe it isn't unnatural but it's a weird shade" she grabbed the needle and pushed it into her skin.

"Aura, I look at blood all the time! How do you think I could miss seeing my own then?" he asked her. "I think you need your eyes checked, that's it."

"Whatever," she sighed and began drawing her one blood.

Bakura watched her carefully, thinking.

She drew a coupe vials and sat them beside his, leaving a bit of distance between and removed the needle, she placed her hand over the wound and healed it quickly, then labeled the vials. Hers were almost no different from his, except hers seemed to be a bit lighter.

Bakura studied the vials carefully, eyes narrowed a tad. "Interesting..."

She looked over at him, "what is?"

"Your shade... Never mind," he replied.

"No," she brought up her book opening it, "continue."

"Well, your blood's shade... It's a lot lighter than any victim I've ever killed," he said finally.

She looked at her blood and nodded softly; then wrote something down, "may I ask, does mine taste any different than normal?"

Bakura thought back. "Hmm... Maybe a tad sweeter than usual? But no big difference."

"Sweeter, like sugar or like..." she trailed off thinking.

Bakura bit his lip. "It's hard to describe really. Not sugary, but... Well, it's... Uh... Aura I guess you'd say."

She wrote it down in her book and looked at him. "okay, another weird question, you've tasted yours right?"

"Uh, I guess so. Why?" he asked her.

"You guess?" she stared at him then grabbed his vial, "taste it again, tell me if it taste different from normal."

Bakura opened the vile and dipped his tongue into it, much like a cat would with milk. "Hmm..." Bakura continued tasting it, thinking.

Stood there silent, watching him

"It tastes... Confusing," Bakura said after a minute.

"Confusing?"

"Well, light and airy almost but then dark and more towards the regular flavor; sweet a little, but also having a sour after taste, like I said, confusing," he told her.

"Hmmm," she muttered and wrote it down in her book, thinking. She bit down on the end of the pen, reading and thinking.

"Any thoughts?" Bakura asked, walking over to her.

She nodded, "this might be easier than I thought." She looked at him, "when you passed out, was it because of the white magic or because we were drained of power?"

"The white magick for sure," Bakura replied. "Does that help at all?"

"Hmm, no. I need one more sample of your blood." she thought closing the book and setting it down.

Bakura, confused a tad, only nodded. "Sure, but why?"

"If it stays to blood it should be able to be measured by blood. So I need a sample of your blood once you've exerted your energy using only black magic."

"And how do you expect me to use it? Where is a better question actually," Bakura replied.

"You don't have to do it now, you did just get out of the shadow realm. I don't want to ask too much of you."

Bakura rolled his eyes and stretched in the air. "I told you, I'm fine!"

She sighed, "fine, we can go back to the same place we were last time." she grabbed her book and walked towards the hallway

Bakura followed, mentally preparing himself. 'This'll be easy. I can easily counter this. I can control it.'

Once inside the large room, none of the previous damages had been taken care off. "alright, have fun, be careful, don't kill me."

"Don't you want to leave? It may be safer after all... You could watch through a security camera or something," he suggested.

She shook her head, "since when have you ever worried about me?" she asked cynically.

Bakura glared almost instantly. "You want to die? Fine, go for it. See if I care."

She narrowed her eyes on him, then brought up a small shield around her.

Bakura shrugged. "Fine then," he told her angrily. However, he made his way to the other side of the room.

She leaned across the far wall from him and crossed her arms; waiting and alert. What she hadn't told him was that this was a secure room, no cameras, no windows, it was totally locked down and secret

Bakura closed his eyes, breathing in and out slowly. He figured he had plenty of time, so he was going to takes things slow and keep in control.

Looking from him, she summoned the Darkfiend Soldier and it appeared before him growling but didn't move, at least it would be something for him to attack.

Slowly, very slowly, a mist formed around Bakura's feet. It started small but soon grew larger and darker with each passing second.

The monster growled and stepped forward readying its blade, she ordered it to remain still.

'Nice and slow...' Bakura chanted to himself as thin coils formed out of the fog and began surrounding Bakura. 'Steady now...'

She watched him wondering why it was taking so long, she thought back to their fight and smiled understanding.

The coils began to move then, slow and steady waves. One slithered to the floor and towards the monster.

The monster watched it raising its blade, what could one of those possible do?

Suddenly, four or five others sprang from behind the monster, attacking it with ease.

The monster growled and swung out at them just as she released control on the monster, she opened her book and scribbled down

Several more slashed downwards violently, one of them missing Aura's shield by an inch.

She remained still watching feeling safe in her shield, the monster slashed out again attacking and slicing through some

The ones sliced split in half, doubling the number of coils. Bakura, meanwhile, started to worry a tad. His was slowly beginning to slip up.

The monster looked around it, it was totally surrounded and slashing at it didn't help, it only made matters worse. With a thin smile, she watched the book open in her hands.

Several coils attached themselves to the monsters arms, legs, and neck. They squeezed tightly as more coils who were near Bakura moved over towards the scene.

She took a deep breath and felt a slight a discomfort on her body everywhere there was a coil on the Monsters. /weird/ she thought and scribbled it down.

They squeezed tighter, more and more coils wrapping around the monster to the point where it was no longer visible.

Pain washed over her face for a brief moment, but she pushed it back. She watched the coils tighten constricting.

Bakura, meanwhile, was taking very deep, ragged breaths. The coils almost felt like they were multiplying and he couldn't handle all of them. A few strayed from the pack, lashing about wildly.

She enhanced her shield making it stronger ignoring the monster for a moment as she watched the wild coils.

The stray coils turned towards Aura and one pounded on her shield.

She watched it, sure it wouldn't break through her shield, /gain control Bakura/ she thought.

Bakura felt sweat form along his forehead as he squeezed his eyes closed. 'Slower, slower... Need more control...' The coils, meanwhile, continued thrashing about her shield, more joining in.

She enhanced the shield and thought about what other creature could fight against the coils? Not something of only light, but something also of dark, something of equal balance, but something powerful. /my other ka?/ she thought watching the coils, /I'll give him another moment/

The coils slowly backed down and moved away, Bakura on his knees from strained effort. 'That's it...' A few still lashed, but were a good few feet from Aura.

She sighed seeing him regain control and her shield dropped completely

The majority of the coils trailed back towards the cloud of mist that surrounded Bakura, though a few remained out and in the air. Bakura was smirking, glad to have finally regained some control.

The Monster had been destroyed during that process at some point, still she just stood there and watched him.

The coils floating over Bakura's head slowly began to morph, shaping themselves to look more and more snake-like.

She watched some of the coils began to shift, /interesting/ she scribbled it down.

They slowly fell to the floor, now slithering around and slowly nearing her.

She watched the snakes and as they made their way to her, she began muttering the chant for the shield again.

They, about three of them, stopped a foot away from her and watched as if observing her.

When they stopped so did her chant and she looked at them curious, /do they have a mind of their own?/ she thought and she slowly glanced over at Bakura.

Bakura had his hands together. His lips moved in a silent chant as each snake peered at her curiously.

Remained still and silent watching the snakes with intensity.

Slowly, one of them moved closer to her, not taking its shadowy eyes off of hers.

Her foot slid back but his the wall and she hesitated to continue the chant

It laid its head on Aura's leg, looking up into her eyes. Slowly, a small smile worked its way onto the shadow beast's lips.

She watched it, a bit shocked and didn't know if the smile it gave her was a good one or a bad one.

From the other end of the room, Bakura chuckled lightly. His lips automatically went back to a chant as the snake lifted its head to be eye level with Aura.

She watched the snake and decided to slowly reach for it, pushing the back of her hand first thinking if it was like any other animal it was a sign of trust and the main source of her scent.

The snake stared at the hand for a minute before moving its head under it. Bakura, meanwhile, smiled in victory. 'See? Control...'

Smiling she pet the snake gently, /if all snakes were this calm I'd own one myself/ she thought watching it.

Slowly, another snake approached and settled for being at her feet. The first snake turned a tad and glared but the second one remained.

She glanced down at the other snake and wondered if it was as calm as the first. Lowering her hand other hand like she did with the first, she reached for the second, slowly.

The second one glared up at her and tried to tear her hand off. The first one, however, hissed and the second one stayed low to the ground.

She growled and stood upright looking at the first snake still petting it, offering her arm for it to crawl around. "Too bad you're not real or I'd keep you as a pet, you're cute." she smiled.

The snake nodded as if understanding her, laying on her arm and smiling. The second one nodded to the third one who came over slowly.

She looked at the first smiling and noticed movement, looked down to see the third approaching, but she didn't move.

The third went towards her other arm, looking at her fearfully.

Slowly she slowly offered her free arm towards the third snake, watching it.

The third snake stared at it fearfully, but the first nudged it forward. The third slowly went under her hand, smiling weakly. The second only rolled its eyes.

Laughing softly she pet the third snake, "so we have courage, loath, and shyness, how amusing." she offered her arm petting the snake like she did to the first.

The third snake smiled, rubbing against her arm. Bakura, meanwhile, finally stood and made his way over to them.

She smiled and looked over at Bakura, "I like these two, that one down there's a bit mean." she chuckled. "Wish I could keep them."

Bakura shrugged, sitting down. The second one went straight to his lap and cuddled against him. "He's not very affectionate to most..." he muttered, smiling lightly.

She sat beside him with the snakes on her arms, petting both of them. "Not very many people like snakes," she muttered then chuckled, "I guess it makes sense you do."

Bakura shrugged as the second snake wrapped itself around his neck and laid on his shoulder. "I suppose that does make sense." He chuckled. "You seem to."

She smiled "Snakes have always been considered evil, just the mere sight of them makes most people afraid. I just think they're misunderstood." she looked at the first snake still on her and pet it lightly.

"Hmm, really? They interest me, that's all." Bakura stroked the second one lightly and it smiled up at him. The first one, meanwhile, snuggled close to Aura. The third, however, moved away looking fearful. "They're really hard to manifest and I usually only get them to come in the Shadow Realm. However, with all this extra energy lately, I realized it's a lot easier to summon them."

"Well, I like them especially this one," she said smiling at the snake curled around her. "it's also good to know that you're beginning to gain more control over your powers too."

He nodded. "I'm relieved as well. Summoning all three of them definitely shows I'm improving somewhere." The second snake moved off of Bakura and snapped playfully at the third one who fell to the ground in shock. The first just kept cuddling up to Aura, watching the others.

She smiled, "it's amazing they have such well defined personalities, I've never seen that in snakes before." She glanced at Bakura from the corner of her eyes, watching his face attempting to detect any kind of emotion.

Bakura smirked, his face looking like he was hiding a small detail. "Yeah, I guess. At least they're interesting." He laid on his stomach to watch snakes two and three fight. Or, snake two try and attack snake three. The third snake, petrified, suddenly vanished and Bakura groaned.

She hummed softly as if interested in something and looked at the two snakes until one vanished, "strange, are you feeling alright?"

He nodded, sighing a tad. "Don't worry, I'm fine. It just takes a lot of energy to keep all three out and sane, not to mention the fact that we're not in the Shadow Realm." The second snake, now bored, went back to laying on Bakura.

"Then we should get to work," she said and rose her arm allowing the snake to crawl over to her shoulders, "come on let's get that blood so you can rest a bit." she stood.

Bakura nodded, standing. "Time to go, guys," he murmured to the two remaining snakes who both frowned and tried to latch onto Bakura. "No..." he murmured as the two vanished. "Say, Aura, can you think of any names for them? I've never found ones that fit them..."

She looked at the snakes, "well there were two Gods in Egypt, Aapep who fought the sun God constantly, and Neheb-ka, who guarded the gate to the Duat, and the snake-goddess Renenutet,"

"I suppose we could take something from their names, but something shorter for sure. If I'm summoning them quickly, I don't have time to spit out a mouthful like that," he replied, walking over to her.

"That's understandable, how about Pep for the fiesty one, Ka for the shy one, and Ren for this one?" she said looking over at him.

"Pep, Ka, and Ren? Sure, sounds good," Bakura told her.


	24. Chapter 24

"Good," she walked over to the door then down the hall then back into the lab, "at least I could be some help tonight." she chuckled, "go sit like last time, I don't want you passing out again."

Bakura nodded and sat. "At least you provided some use," he joked lightly, holding his arm out.

She laughed shaking her head cleaning off the spot on his arm before slowly poking the needle through his skin. "Hopefully, this will all work out well," she took a deep breath filling up the vials.

Bakura sighed as she drew blood, looking to the floor. In each vial, blood the same shade as before sat.

She watched the blood fill up the last, extra, vial and frowned slightly. Taking the needle out of his arm so held it closed for a moment before placing a bandage over it. "You're sighing, are you alright?" she asked looking up at him.

He nodded. "A bit tired, but alive." 'And lightheaded...' Bakura leaned back in his chair, sighing once more. "What's the blood work show?"

She looked at the vial, "it looks the same, but I dunno. Wanna give it a taste?" she laughed holding up a vial.

Bakura nodded, completely serious. "Sure."

She blinked then opened it up handing it to him, amused. then walked across the room grabbing the book and setting the other vials down. "What does it taste like and is it any different then what yours tasted like from before?"

Bakura slipped his tongue into it, frowning. "Hmm..." He took another taste. "A subtle difference, yes, it's a tad sourer than sweet unlike before, but other than that aspect, the same."

She frowned nodding then sighed writing it down, /I was afraid of that/ she thought walking back over to him taking the vial back. "Thank you."

"...You sighed," Bakura pointed out slowly. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

She didn't look at him for a moment, or say anything. Walking across the room she placed the vial beside the others and labeled them. "Try and stay out of the shadow realm until I can get something developed." she answered.

Bakura stood and walked over to her slowly. "Why? Is there a problem?" He sighed. "Do you at least have a hunch on something?"

She continued working, setting the book down on the counter she leaned over it writing something down, then tapping the pen on the counter before writing something again. "From what it looks like your powers never decreased, only the white magic did."

"What? I was using shadow magick the entire time! How would that work...?" Bakura broke off, thinking.

She rubbed her forehead, "I don't know. It could be possible that it's still in your blood but there's something missing, maybe you are getting weaker when you use it and I'm not seeing it yet, but I don't know." she turned on the overhead light and began covering the counter in supplies needed for tests. "I'll figure it out."

Not knowing how else to respond, Bakura nodded his head. His eyes trailed over to where Aura was setting up. "There a way I can help or should I just sleep?"

"Just rest, I'll be fine." she sighed, "there's a pull out bed over on the wall over there." she pointed behind her without looking, "or you can go home." Rubbing her eyes she started working.

Bakura went to the pull out bed, yanked it roughly, and collapsed onto it.

She worked, testing the blood writing pages upon pages of notes trying to stay as quiet as she possibly could as she did so.

Bakura meanwhile slept contently, but wandered his soul room in confusion. 'Hmm...'

She worked throughout the night, never stopping to rest, "I don't get it," she muttered under her breath shuffling through the papers reviewing her work.

Bakura finally woke up around noon and stretched, yawning loudly. He looked around to get his surroundings before seeing Aura. "Mornin'."

She glanced over her shoulder at him, "afternoon." she glanced back at the mess of the counter which was covered in used tests, papers and empty/full vials, some of the papers where laying on the floor.

"I see someone hasn't slept," Bakura observed as he walked over to her. "Testing all night?"

She nodded in response, too tired to talk and was reading over some of her notes.

Bakura leaned on her, frowning. "You need sleep. Go take a well-deserved rest and then come back to this." To enforce his point, he slung her over his shoulder and dropped her off onto the pull out bed.

"I'll be fine," she growled then squealed when he picked her up, not expecting it. She sat up right after she was dropped on the bed, "I'm fine don't worry, besides I think I almost got it," she lied, growling.

"If you don't sleep, I'm sitting on top of you," he threatened her. "You need it, so get it!"

She narrowed her eyes on him, "I'm fine, I've gone several days without sleep, another couple of hours won't hurt."

Bakura lept onto the bed and landed on her stomach. "I told you so," he said simply.

"Get off!" she growled trying to push him off

Bakura kicked his legs up onto her, smirking. "Not until you're sleeping."

"Like I can sleep with you sitting on me!"

"Well then, this'll take a while, huh?" Bakura laughed evilly.

She relaxed on the bed and crossed her arms, then growled something about him under her breath.

"Grumbling won't help you fall asleep!" Bakura sang in amusement.

She looked at him, "why are you so happy?"

"Because this provides amusement to me and I haven't been amused in way too long," he replied simply.

"Well I'm glad I can amuse you but," she poked his side, "you're kind of crushing me."

"Then you better sleep quickly before I kill you," Bakura told her, poking her back.

"Jerk," she poked him again just under the ribs.

Bakura lay down, sighing and stretching. "Thanks," he told her.

She chuckled now being able to relax, "you're most welcome."

"Shut up and sleep already. I want my blood work figured out," he said to her.

"Then I'll get back to work," she said wanting to get up but she didn't move, her eyes shut.

Bakura sighed. "Sleep now, okay?" He thought about Ryou and how he got managed to force Bakura to sleep. Hesitantly at first, he started humming a tune which grew in volume as he remembered more and more of it.

Her smiled grew and took a deep breath, just before she fell asleep she whispered, "Thanks." let out a soft chuckle, "cute." then fell asleep.

Bakura frowned at the 'cute' statement, but continued humming regardless. Soon, he lulled himself into a state of unconsciousness.

She slept dreamlessly, peacefully, a soft gentle on her face.

Bakura slept similarly to her, eventually waking up when he rolled off the bed and onto the floor. "Ugh..." he murmured groggily.

Hearing something drop she opened her eyes and rolled over sighing, poking her head over the edge of the bed seeing Bakura on the floor. "These beds were only made for one person," she yawned.

"Shut up..." He grumbled, standing and cracking his back. "Good... Well, whatever time it is."

She shrugged, and laid back on the bed pulling out her cell phone glancing at the time, "almost 9." she put the phone away and sat upright stretching.

He nodded. "At night or in the morning?" Bakura honestly had no clue.

"Night," she grumbled standing from the bed and dragging her feet over to the counter, "what a mess," she sighed scratching her head.

Bakura followed her over and leaned on the counter. "And none of it makes sense to me."

"For hours I worked, and the only thing I figured out there is something different about our blood, as if I didn't already know it." she rubbed her eyes and sat down looking at particular paper.

"Well, that much is obvious. I could have guessed that!" Bakura groaned.

"I know." she read the paper then sat it down leaning back and thinking. Closing her eyes and leaning her head back as far as she could she began muttering formulas and equations, knocking the chair on its back two legs. "It's gotta be something..."

To Bakura, the math equations made absolutely no sense. He pulled up a chair and sat beside her, thinking as well.

She continued thinking rocking the chair a bit further back, "maybe it's not something recognizable, which means if a computer can spot unknown irregularities..."

"It's worth testing," Bakura told her, sitting up in his chair. "Do you have one that could work?"

She dropped the chair to all four legs, "I don't at least nothing specifically designed for it. However..." she paused thinking. "I may have something that I can reprogram."

"And that would be...?" he asked her.

She ignored him for a second thinking how it would work, reaching forward she grabbed the book and opened it up to a clean page then began writing, "the virtual pods are designed to read the mind and body, electronically, while you are in the virtual world it constantly monitors your body, I think by rewriting the program I may be able to get it to find irregularities. Heavy emphasis on may."

Bakura nodded, smiling. "It makes sense to me!" he told her. "Let's try it!"

She nodded and continued scribbling down notes quickly, "working on it now, just give me a second."

Bakura leaned back in his chair, watching her work.

Her pace quickened and suddenly she dropped the pen in the book closing it, "k." standing she walked towards the door.

The white-haired male hurried after her, lost in thought.

She quickly walked down the hall, then made it to a locked door, using the same card key, she typed in a passcode and the door slide open. Moving inside she cut on the lights revealing four virtual pods and another door.

Bakura sighed. "This again..."

She smiled looking over at him, "I'm sorry I saved your life, I won't do it again." she joked and moved over to the main computer turning everything on.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Whatever," he muttered, climbing into a pod and plugging himself in.

She chuckled, "you don't have to follow me in you know." setting everything up she walked over to the pod next to him sitting in it.

Bakura hopped out. "Then I won't."

She frowned at his response but nodded without saying a word to him she plugged in and the pod closed sending her into the game.

Bakura watched her through a screen curiously.

Once inside she looked around at the starting map, she stood there for a moment, as if waiting for something before she shook her head. "Command Override, master control." the whole world disappeared around her and before her appeared a super computer. /I hate it these things/ she sighed moving forward.

Bakura leaned on his elbows, watching her with a bored expression.

She sat down at the chair and began typing before a very long binary code appeared and she growled, "my least favorite." selecting random codes and rewriting them she worked for a while doing the same boring thing.

Bakura sighed. "This is boring..."

After about an hour she dropped her head, "I hate this...so close to being done though." she closed her eyes /I need to keep working, push through for../ opening her eyes and looked at the computer which read nothing but ones and zeros

Bakura had dozed off a bit and woke up with drool on his cheek. "Ugh, she's still working on that..."

Another hour passed by and she stood with a smile, "I think that'll do it." she sighed rubbing her eyes, "at least I hope it does, then again nothing ever worked right on the first try." she walked from the computer. "end program," she said returning to her body and her pod opened up.

Bakura groaned loudly, not noticing her come out. "Ra, even staring contests with Ryou are more exciting than this!"

"I'm sorry this is so boring for you." she growled getting out of the pod and stretching then walked towards the tool closet grabbing some tools and spare parts then dragging them to the same pod she was in

Bakura looked over at her. "You should be!" he said in a mock-hurt tone. "Is it done yet?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," she rolled her eyes smiling. "Software wise, I think so. Hardware just needs some minor upgrades," she smiled grabbing the blow torch.

"Can I at least help? I'm dying." Bakura stood and walked over.

"Oh don't worry, you're going to be my lab rat as soon as I'm done with this. But if you really want to help you can run back into the lab and bring me back one of those supply bags with the needles and stuff in it."

Bakura rolled his eyes but jogged off. He returned half an hour later and said, "Ryou wants a status report by the way."

She was nearly done by the time he got back, "You can explain it to him, what took you so long by the way? The lab is thirty seconds down the hall."

Bakura rolled his eyes. "I was trying to explain everything to Ryou who's being annoying and yelling at me!" He spaced out for a moment, then sighed.

"Tell Ryou I don't know much of anything yet." she tightened something down with a screwdriver.

"Ra, that's what I've been saying..." he grumbled, watching her.

She dropped the screwdriver into the tool box and stood wiping sweat from her forehead, "well I can't give you any more of an answer right now."

"I know..." Bakura muttered, sitting on the ground and spacing out once more.

"Don't sit there!" she said suddenly and loudly

Bakura jumped. "What!"

She laughed out loud, and it took a moment to control herself, "cause I need you in the pod."

Bakura glared at her. "Ra..."

She laughed again, "I'm sorry I couldn't resist, but seriously, I do need you in this pod."

He said nothing, but climbed in.

"Alright," she grabbed his arm and placed it on a arm rest then placed a strap over his wrist where it looked like something could fit in a little slot. Hooking a small hose to the new side of the machine and attached it to the end of a needle and placed it in his arm then held it still with another strap. "This will only take a little bit of blood, but don't move it."

Biting his lip, he nodded. "Sure, that's what a lab rat does anyway, right?"

"Good boy, you learn fast!" she chuckled and brought the helmet over his head and knocked on it. As the door closed she said, "oh I forgot to mention I had to rewrite a bit of the uploading process so it might be a little painful going in, I can't work out the kinks."

Bakura shrugged as he closed his eyes. "I'm used to pain."

Shaking her head the pod closed and she sat in the pod beside him plugged up regularly and jumped into the virtual world with him.

Bakura jerked and felt pain shoot through him as he woke up in the virtual world. "I'm here, Aura!" he called.

She appeared a minute after him, standing right in front of him smiling. "Yo," she said grinning. "How'd it feel?"

"Like nothing," he lied. "So, what now exactly?"

She sighed, "sit, stay." she pointed at him then brought up a screen in front of her.

Bakura stood and walked over to her. "If you want a mutt, talk to Joey."

She chuckled shaking her head, "I never cared much for Joey, you're more interesting." she began clicking away at the screen. "if you feel any pain at all, I need to know so I can fix it. I don't know if your body and your mind are still connected at the moment."

He nodded, still thinking about her previous comment. "Okay..."

Looks at him, "I'm serious, if you feel anything at all, tell me."

"Yeah, yeah..." Bakura blew off her comment. "Whatever."

Rolls her eyes, "you're so hard sometimes." she looked at the screen and continued clicking away for a moment. "alright, ready?"

He nodded. "Hard as a rock and ready to go."

Blushed for a moment looking at him then burst out into laughter, "don't joke like that."

Bakura chuckled. "You going to start or what?"

"yea, yea, sorry." she smiled, "alright, first step simple, it's going to drain some blood." she hit a button and watched the screen as it was processing.

Bakura sighed heavily, feeling a tad lightheaded but otherwise fine.

"That's normal," the computer beeped, "alright, now it's going to read it."

Bakura nodded, sitting down. "Alright, the moment of truth."

A moment passed and the computer beeped, she let out a soft growl.

Bakura frowned, waiting for an answer.

She let out a long sigh then shut the screen, "Command override, master control." the land faded and she turned walking to the super computer then brought up the code again.

"What's going on?" Bakura demanded.

She pointed at the binary code on the screen, "Can you read that?"

"..." His confused silence says it all.

"That's what I thought reading this and writing it is incredibly difficult I must have messed up somewhere is all."

He sighed. "Great, this means I'll be even more bored!"

She laughed, "you'll live it'll only be a moment." She worked as fast as she could after about fifteen minutes she brought up a screen beside her and clicked on it.

Bakura was laying on the floor now, groaning. "Is it done?"

"Hopefully," She said clicking at the second screen

Bakura stood to meet her. He peered at the screen.

She read it for a moment, "well it looks good. Hold on." Pressing a button the machine drew more blood

Bakura felt weak, but managed to remain upright. 'Will this finally work...?'

Aura glanced at him pressing a button to stop the machine, "are you alright?"

His eyes narrowed and he spat, "I'm fine already, just stop asking!"

"Oh so you feel like shit, thanks for expressing that with love." she sighed looking back at the screen pressing a button a chair appeared beside him. "Sit," she ordered without looking at him.

Bakura sat and smirked at her. "What, do you enjoy worrying about me or something? Is that why you're acting moody?"

"Oh yes, it makes me feel all warm and tingly inside," she growled looking at the screen as it read what little blood the machine took from him.

"So very moody today..." Bakura murmured, then zoned out for a minute.

"You started it," she muttered and the computer beeped softly, she read it and smiled. "Part two's complete, onto part three."

Bakura nodded, sitting up a bit straighter. "Dare I ask how many parts there are?" 'Please say three...'

She looked at him smiling, "I have no idea," she lied standing and shutting down the computer, they both appeared in a field.

"Dammit Aura!" Bakura hissed, standing.

"Oh what are you going to do Bakura? Kill me? Ha!" she narrowed her eyes on him. "Here I am slaving away to make sure you can get through tomorrow and you just..." she grit her teeth. Gah!"

Bakura walked over to her and leaned on her shoulder. "What do you expect? A kiss for all your efforts?" he said sarcastically.

She blushed suddenly, "N-no, I don't expect that at all."

"Then quit bitching about being unappreciated," Bakura replied simply, taking a step back to glance at her. "Who says I don't anyway?"

She watched him, "You're you, you don't appreciate anything." she growled crossing her arms. "let alone someone you hate trying to help you."

Bakura actually found himself chuckling. "Don't appreciate anything, huh? Nothing at all? I never thought you to be one to judge people so quickly."

"If you do appreciate it you don't express it so it's worthless," she said turning away slightly.

"And how would you know, or even realize, what I appreciate? More over, who decided that you're the one to judge how someone must look or act to appreciate something?" Bakura growled.

She looked away from him silent for a moment, she was too proud to admit when she was wrong. "How exactly have you shown any kind of gratitude for me helping you?"

"You're alive, aren't you?" Bakura replied angrily. "I have made no moves against you to signal anything otherwise. Moreover, I've let you get close to Ryou without strangling the life out of you. And you call ME ungrateful?" Bakura glared deeply into her eyes, daring her to respond.

"Oh no you cannot play that card!" she uncrossed her arms looking at him. "I just asked you about that a couple days ago and you said to me you had no reason to kill me anymore! So you cannot turn it around now and say that by me helping you now, you're not going to attack me!"

In a second, Bakura had his hands tightly wrapped around her throat. His eyes glowed maliciously as he spoke in a hiss. "How dare you act so ungrateful..."

Though, here he couldn't kill her she still felt the pain and she grunted grabbing his wrists. "how am I ungrateful, when you're choking the one person who could potentially save you?" she asked in slow ragged breaths

"Maybe I don't need saving!" Bakura knew he was being irrational, but anger was clouding his thoughts. His grip tightened considerably.

Her hands tightened around his wrists, "you're so full of it!" she gasped.

"And you're all proud and mighty, you bitch!" Bakura screamed, but then suddenly let go. He dropped to his knees, eyes unfocused.

She coughed grabbing her throat rubbing it, slowly dropping to a knee she looked at him, and to her surprise she asked, "are you alright?"

Ryou looked up to meet her eyes. "Fine," he said simply, standing and brushing himself off.

She stood and looked at him, "you're thickheaded, you should have used your powers, not attempt to choke me." she sighed bringing up a screen and typing at it.

"But I don't want to choke you..." Ryou mumbled, looking at the ground.

She looked at him quickly and blinked, "Ryou?" she asked then growled closing the screens.

He nodded slowly. "Bakura looked like he was going to hurt you, so..." Ryou trailed off.

/Damn it Ryou!/ she thought growling. "It's fine, I'm fine, he couldn't hurt me here if he wanted too." she looked at her timer, "when we get back to our bodies, don't move, alright?"

Ryou nodded slowly. "Aura, is something wrong? Are you sure he didn't hurt you...?"

"I'm fine Ryou," she smiled. "Just don't move, you're strapped down and have a needle in your arm."

Ryou sighed. "Okay," he told her simply. 'Bakura, what did you do...?'

She hit the end of the timer and they were both sent back to their bodies. Moving over to his pod as it opened she removed the needle and the straps, "ok, you can stand, but slow." she said.

Ryou felt extremely lightheaded, but did as she instructed. 'Should I let Bakura come back...?'

She stood right by his side in case he needed the help. /This is unfortunate, I could have completed the test with Bakura./ she thought gritting her teeth.

Ryou sighed lightly. "Bakura's fuming," he said in a matter-of-fact tone as he managed to get out of the pod all together.

"I know, that was my fault, I was trying to push him," she sighed and offered him the seat by the pod.

Ryou took the seat gratefully. "And he called you moody..." Ryou murmured, not realizing what he said.

She smiled, "I suppose for that moment, yea." walking back to the pod she cleaned up the needle and other things. Thinking.

The white-haired male sighed heavily, leaning back in his chair. 'And I'm stuck with him...'


	25. Chapter 25

After cleaning everything up she sat on the ground leaning against the pod and ran her hands over her face, "Sorry Ryou."

"Sorry for what?" he asked curiously, sitting beside her.

"Getting you mixed up between him and I." she sighed resting her head back and closing her eyes

Ryou shrugged, trying to smile. "I'm used to being in the middle of things..." he muttered, staring at his hands.

"Well, I don't want you to be. I was trying to push him, so I want him to be mad at me, not you."

Ryou simply shrugged. "if taking his rage from you makes him hate me, who am I to stop it? Besides, like I said, I'm used to being hated."

"Ryou..." she sighed grunting. /If I'm not arguing with him, I'm arguing with the other./ she thought. "We don't hate you, stop saying that."

"You're so modest," Ryou told her. "A gift and a curse, I'm fine with being the one in the middle. Truly, I don't care." He stared into space for a moment, frowning. "Can we talk about something else? Please?"

"Sure, how are you feeling?" she asked her head still back on the pod and her eyes shut

"A little lightheaded, but I suppose that's due to blood loss. You look tired though..." Ryou said. "How are you doing?"

"Fine," she said realizing a moment later she sounded alot like Bakura. "I'm tired but I'm alright," she repeated and looked over at him. "You should feel fine soon, your body regenerates pretty fast, it'll make up the extra blood in no time."

Ryou nodded at her, already feeling better as she spoke. "Have you figured anything out, or do you need to do more tests?"

"I was almost done completely the last test, but I need Bakura for it. I think I may have figured it out but I'm not 100% sure yet. Once I get the results I need a while of studying it I can figure it out I'm sure."

Ryou nodded excitedly. "Really? Well, let's do it then!" 'Finally, I'll figure things out and get a few answers!'

"Whoa, hold on for a moment Ryou." she looked over at him, "I need Bakura, he has control over the shadows, right now it's all out of order and I don't want you getting hurt."

Ryou stopped, then frowned. "How is it broken? And why can't I try to help?"

"I'll explain it to you like I explained it to him, think of your bodies as cups, Bakura's cup above yours. Now think of the powers as water. As the water fills Bakura's cup he gains more power, eventually he has no more room to hold that water so it begins pouring out into your cup."

Ryou frowned, biting his lip. "That... can't be right. Are you trying to tell me that I have some form of shadow magick?"

"Yes, and a very raw state, it's very dangerous. Bakura's had his powers for over 5 millennia, and even he's having a hard time controlling it."

Ryou shook his head. "No, that can't be right! I don't have... Magick! That makes no sense!" Panic was seizing him slowly but surely.

"Breathe deep Ryou, please. Calm down." she said simply.

"But it makes no sense!" Ryou went on. "How... And Bakura having trouble with it? It's simply not true!" He knew he was overreacting, but his thoughts were clouded by fear.

"Ryou, it's a really long and confusing process, basically Bakura uses Black Magic, I use White. One day, we accidently combined both within him, what created a power surge, kind like blowing a fuse."

Ryou sighed, taking a deep breath. "I see..."

"I just don't want you to get hurt." she frowned

He nodded like a bobble head. "Because you don't think I can handle it."

She didn't want to answer but she did, "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"Because I can't handle it," he repeated, a tinge of annoyance in his tone.

"Based upon my judgment of..." she paused and looked over at him, "No, I don't think you can and it's not worth the risk in my opinion."

"But I bet Bakura could do it," Ryou pushed,

"Ryou I don't mean to make you sound like you're not capable, I'm just worried about your safety. Bakura can just barely keep control of it."

"I know," he said finally, hearing truth in her words. "Then we should get Bakura to do it."

She nodded, "yea, we should. But will he?"

Ryou zoned out for a minute. Two minutes. Three. Five. Ten.

She waited silently

A light flashed and Bakura stood, cracking his knuckles and grumbling.

She looked up at him waiting for him to say something, anything or attack even.

"Well? I heard I was needed," was all he said, glaring into her eyes.

"Yea, you were. Did you hear anything I said to Ryou?" she stood to face him.

"No," he said in a low, cold tone. His eyes didn't leave hers.

She grumbled under her breath, "then let me start off by saying I'm sorry, I was pushing you in the hops that you would use pure hatred and attack me. I thought that it might lower your strength. I knew you wouldn't go along with it if I told you so I just put myself in front of you instead."

Bakura stared at her, bewildered. "You... Tried to use my emotions!" he bellowed, more angry than ever.

She nodded, "yes." She said confidently without giving further explanation.

Bakura's hands clenched into fists, "You..." Rage blinded him as he took a step forward menacingly.

She watched him with careful eyes not backing down. "I put myself in danger so that maybe I could help you," she said softly. "I didn't mean to play you."

"But you did all the while!" Bakura raged. "And your apology means nothing if it isn't sincere!"

"Who said it wasn't sincere? I meant it truthfully and honestly, I did it because I needed to test you." she stood upright.

"I'm getting sick of all these tests..." Bakura muttered, still fuming but slowly calming down.

"I'm sorry, they were all necessary, I needed the information so I don't leave any holes. This test was the last one, I promise you."

Sighing heavily, Bakura finally regained his common sense. "Alright," he told her. "I accept your apology."

She took a deep breath of relief, "thank you, and I should say I never truly meant what I said to you then in the virtual realm."

He merely waved his hand. "It's all in the past now," he said and chuckled at the irony of such a statement. After all, he spent three thousand years trying to kill a man over past events.

"Ok." she looked at the pod, "the final test is just testing the machine to make sure it reads the correct information and it'll measure your output levels."

"My output levels?" Bakura asked, walking towards the pod.

"Everything can be measured, when you use your ability I'm calling it output cause it's simple and I don't feel like using any long term for it."

Bakura nodded, understanding. "Okay, it sounds good to me. Should I get in now?"

"Yes, please." she said nodding grabbing new supplies and hooking it up to the machine. "are you feeling alright though? You think you can give up a little more blood?"

Bakura rolled his eyes." I'm fine," he told her. "Take as much blood as you need."

She nodded softly but sighed, "I don't care what you say, I do worry about you." she said putting the needle into his skin and hooking him down like before.

"It's a waste of time," Bakura said simply, feeling his blood being drained.

"Not for me," she smiled placing the helmet over his head ad shutting the pod. She sat down in her own pod and entered the virtual world.

Bakura blinked, eyes adjusting to the virtual world. 'Here again...' Without thinking, he brought back the river that he and Aura had swam in the last time they had entered together.

She appeared beside him and looked at the river a slight frown appeared on her face as her mind ran. "let's get started," she said coldly, not meaning too.

Bakura leaned an elbow on her shoulder, sighing. "If you're going to be uptight, then I'm not starting anything. Calm down already."

She nodded softly, "alright." He utterly confused her, he was a two headed coin, one moment totally enraged, the next calm and collected. Raising her hand she brought the screen up and clicked on a few things. "Whenever you are ready to begin, just try something small at first"

He took a few steps away from her and closed his eyes to concentrate. 'Nice and slow, like last time, nice and slow...

Slowly, a mist appeared around his feet to begin with.

She crossed her arms watching him from the corner of her eyes but paying more attention to the measurements on the screen,

Finally, a thick cloud of mist danced up to his shins. Thin, short coils were formed from the mist and lay in waiting on the ground.

The screen came alive and a thin smile appeared on her face

The coils around him grew longer, thicker, and sturdier as they slowly lifted themselves from the ground and swung lazily in the air. Each one was at least fifteen feet tall and four feet thick. Bakura breathed in and out slowly as a small, hardly noticeable strain began to fall over him.

The screen beeped and she smiled, "alright, you're done." she said simply and dragged the measurement off the screen and clicked a few things

The snake-like coils grew smaller and smaller until they vanished entirely, as did the cloud of mist by Bakura's feet; however, a tad remained around the very bottom of his feet as he walked over to join Aura, "Find anything exciting?"

"Everything works, now I make a travel size companion and study," she clicked a few more things and the screen disappeared. "Thanks for your help."

He nodded. "It's the least I could do if you're helping me," he told her simply.

"It's no problem, I owe you." she said softer than before. Crossing her arms she turned from him a bit looking at the water.

"And how exactly do you owe me?" he asked her, sitting on the water's edge.

She looked down but didn't answer. "You can go back, I know you dislike this place."

"A shame that you're preventing me from leaving then, huh?" he said to her without turning around. Bakura slipped his shoes off and put his feet in the water.

Walking over to him she grabbed his arm and placed on a watch, "there, now I'm not stopping you."

"But, you see, you still are." Bakura looked over at her. "I can't let myself leave until I know why you owe me."

"It's not important," she stood beside him on the water's edge with her arms crossed.

"It is to me," Bakura told her. "And if it wasn't important, you would just tell me."

"You'll just end up upset, then yell at me then storm off, calling me a liar again." she looked away from him

Bakura sighed heavily. "We won't know until you tell me though, right?"

"I know it'll happen, but you're persistent." she sighed softly. "ever since I met you, I keep dreaming my memories, I keep seeing things that happened between us, and I saw what my father did to Kul Elna. Everything he did to you, I feel bad, everything you went through, I feel responsible even though I'm not. So, I owe you." she refused to look in his direction.

"Will I storm away? No. Will I believe you? No. Will I try to?" Bakura didn't respond to his final question as he splashed his feet in the water. 'Yes...'

Her arms relaxed falling to her side and she looked at him watching him for a moment. After a moment she sat down beside him, removed her shoes and slipped her feet in the water. There was so much more she wanted to say, but didn't.

Finally, Bakura gave into his urge and took his shirt off. He stood and dove into the water, staying under for a minute before coming up and flipping his still spiked hair back.

She sat there watching him, softly swinging her feet back and forth.

Bakura floated on his back, eyes closed and a peaceful smirk on his face. "You're always so uptight..." he droned lazily "Do you even know how to relax?"

She chuckled shaking her head, "relaxing normally isn't on my schedule." she leaned forward resting her elbows on her legs and her head in her hands

"Even me being myself has time to spare and relax," Bakura told her. "Make time."

She watched him for a moment and sighed removing her jacket then jumped in.

Bakura smirked at her and allowed himself to fall under the water's surface.

She came above the water and sighed wiping water from her face then looked for Bakura.

Bakura, meanwhile, swam along the bottom of the water, his eyes opened and glowing.

She let out a sigh and leaned back against the river's edge.

Bakura popped his head up a few minutes later, mouth full of grass.

She stared at him then laughed loudly.

"What?" he asked through a mouthful of grass. "What's so funny?"

That only made her laugh louder as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Bakura spat the grass out of his mouth, now outright glaring. "What!"

She calmed down slightly, "that was priceless." She laughed softly shaking her head. "What did you do too involved your mouth full of grass?"

Bakura merely smirked. "I was trying to catch fish," he said matter-of-factly.

She laughed again, "Well you sure as hell did a good job."

He glared at her before diving back into the water, more determined than before.

She opened a screen and clicked a few buttons, as soon as it disappeared a large school of fish appeared swimming right for him

Bakura narrowed his eyes, zoning in on one of the fish and striking at the last moment.

She sat there waiting to see if he caught one

Bakura shot out of the water a minute later, two large fish in his mouth. He smirked at her, raising his eyebrows as he swam over.

She laughed shaking her head, "what a glorious hunter you are."

He spat the now dead fish beside her, smirking. "I'd like to see you do that."

Grinning she opened the screen clicked a few things on it and hundreds of dead of fish appeared on the water. "I win."

"No fair!" Bakura yelled out in playful annoyance. "You cheater!" He did, however, pick one up and start tearing its head off.

"You said do better and I did you didn't say how." She laughed

He threw a dead fish head at her face, frowning. "I implied it!"

She laughed blocking her face when he threw it. "You're just jealous."

"Why should I be jealous? I actually have the skill to catch it!" he told her, swimming beside her on his back lazily.

She watched him, "I'm not a good hunter sorry so you win that round."

He laughed, glad to have beaten her. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"I don't know. You told me to relax and I'm enjoying it. The minute we leave here I start working again until I figure something out."

"Well then, I give you an hour here. Do with it what you wish." Smirking at her, Bakura went underwater once more to let her think.

She grumbled under her breath and sighed her thoughts wandering straight to the information she gathered, she even brought up the screen and began looking at the gathered info

Bakura stayed under for another minute before finally coming up to breath. One look at the screen made him frown. "Aura..." he muttered.

She hummed softly and remained looking at the screen

Bakura pushed her a bit away from the screen and, smirking as he did so, dragged her under water.

She squeaked and as soon as she was under water she growled grabbing him.

He retaliated by shoving her lower towards the river's floor, smirking down at her.

Growling again she tried swimming for the surface.

He held her foot with a strong grip and asked, "Will you stop working if I let go?" His words were distorted from being underwater and a thin stream of bubbles floated to the top.

She glared at him and considered lying to him. Instead she gave him a nod.

Bakura released her and came out of the water, sitting on the edge and keeping his feet in.

She took a deep breath and glared at him. Sighing she sat beside him and shook her hair purposefully splashing him.

He only smirked back at her and took his hair with his hands. Bakura leaned over her and squeezed a thick stream of water landing in her lap.

She laughed in response and shook her head. Looking away she thought straight to the tests

Stretching upwards, Bakura leaned back until his back hit the ground and he stared into the sky. 'I don't want to rush her, but at the same time I'm so curious...' He sighed.

She sighed and frowned looking down. 'None of it makes sense.' She thought

Bakura closed his eyes, concentrating on the palm of his hand. A thin, small cloud of mist formed.

She glanced over and watched silent.

He placed his palm to the floor and murmured to himself quietly. A portal opened from the growing mist cloud and from the mist came Ren and Pep, snakes one and two.

A smile grew and she chuckled, "hello Ren."

Ren smiled as a response and, after permission from Bakura, went to her. Pep, however, merely glared in her direction. "Thought we could use some company," Bakura explained.

"My favorite friend." She laughed reaching for the snake and extending her arm to it.

Ren practically tacked her, settling on her lap and coiling into a ball. Bakura moved to sit next to her and Pep slithered beside him.

She laughed petting Ren as he settled down, "nice to see you too." She looked over at Bakura for a moment

Bakura sat beside her and laid down in the grass. Pep lined himself around Bakura's left side, the one facing Aura, in an attempt to look like a guard snake. "So, think you can relax a bit now?"

She blinked staring at him for a moment, "for now." She looked at Ren but her mind still wandered.

Ren, seeming to sense this, frowned at her and moved his head under her hand. Bakura meanwhile sighed. "Come on..."

She snapped back into attention when Ren bumped into her and she looked down forcing a smile. Then looked over at Bakura, "hmm?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Ka's to afraid to come out," Bakura groaned, sitting up. "Are you even slightly more relaxed?"

She looked away from him and shrugged, "I've just got allot on my mind."

He stood, stretching. "Then are you ready to get back to work?"

"No." She said simply and refused to admit why.

Bakura grinned and sat back down about an inch away from her. Ren crawled across both of their laps as Pep wrapped himself around one of Bakura's arms. "So did I finally relax you...?"

Smiling she chuckled and nodded slightly, "congrats, you've accomplished something." She said not as a joke but more as a fact.

Bakura merely rolled his eyes as Pep looked up to glare. "I'm so happy," he said in a sarcastic yet amused tone.

"I bet," she joked and sighed laying back she closed her eyes covering her eyes with her forearm.

"So, why the change in heart?" he asked her, laying beside her.

"Change of heart?" She asked him confused.

"More like a change in will. Why do you want to stay?" Ren nuzzled her as Bakura spoke.

She didn't answer, she frowned looking down. "It's not important." She said petting Ren.

He groaned loudly, stirring Pep a bit. "You're always so damn secretive!" Bakura yelled.

"No one's ever cared before, there wasted emotions." She almost whispered

"Well, say I happened to care. What then?" Bakura asked her, looking the other way. Ren moved a bit away along with Pep as if sensing the tension between them.

She sighed but didn't answer, "I don't know anyone who says that normally lies."

"Well then, I guess you'll just have to trust me and find out for yourself," he replied.

She looked over at him, "Are you implying that you care, even in the slightest?"

He glared, biting his lip and turning away completely. "No," he said in a rush.

"Didn't think so..." She sighed.

"But," he said, interrupting her. "I may just be interested enough to BORDERLINE care."

She chuckled and nodded, "More than anyone else."

"Then I should have the right of being told," Bakura concluded.

She looked away for a moment sighing debating what to say and how to say it

Bakura waited.


	26. Chapter 26

"Haven't you wondered why Seto never bothers us?"

He took a minute to think. "Now that you mention it, Kaiba has been away and out of my hair for quite a bit... What's wrong, did you finally tire of him?"

She frowned, "he just doesn't care, its work nothing else even Mokuba agrees. So in a sense yes I have tired of him."

"Hasn't he always been like that though?" Bakura questioned. "All work and no play make's Seto a Kaiba?"

"No, he wasn't not after we first started dating. It seemed like he actually cared, we spent time together then things started changing."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same person?" Bakura asked. "Because from what I can tell, he's always been like this."

"He's different at home, he seems to actually care, then things just changed now he doesn't care less what happens or what I do or anything."

"Why's that? Why the sudden change?" Bakura asked, honestly curious. "More work perhaps?"

"I wish I knew anytime I ask he gets upset and we argue." She closed her eyes turning her head away. "I should have known it would end up this way he hasn't changed since then."

'Since then?' Bakura thought. Aloud, he said, "Then maybe he's not worth the energy and effort."

"I know," she said simply a stutter in her voice.

"What are you going to do about it?" A simple question with hundreds of possible answers. 

"I don't..." She trailed off thinking.

"Don't tell me you're going to let him treat you like that. Are you?" Once again, a simple question to be answered so many ways.

"Why shouldn't I? It's not like I have time to date anyone." She sighed.

"So you'll boost his already enormous ego by staying with him? Smart plan," he said sarcastically.

She didn't say anything, his words ended up being a powerful blow to her and she frowned.

Bakura sighed, then stood. "You need time to think," he announced simply. "I give you thirty minutes." With that, he walked off until he vanished from sight, leaving Re along with her and taking Pep.

"Thirty minutes," she sighed and looked at Ren. A small smile appeared on her face. "No work, just relax." She pet the snake watching it

The snake smiled up at her and wrapped around her arm loosely.

She chuckled looking at the snake, "I wish I could always keep you around." She laid back and raised her arm to watch Ren.

Ren grinned in acknowledgement. He allowed his tail to curve up slightly and rattled it, producing a short, high pitched noise.

She smiles laughing, "cute. Can you swim?" She asked the snake not sure if it would be able to understand in a way she could understand.

The snake slowly swam towards the edge of the pool. then smiled over at her. Ren dissolved into a puff of fog and, after a few seconds, the mist shaped itself into a long eel. Ren hopped in the water and looked up at her.

She nodded with a smile, removed her shirt and skirt then jumped into the water quickly going to the surface.

Ren slipped under the water, gazing at her from the bottom of the sea floor.

For the next half an hour she swam around trying to keep her thoughts from everything and ended swimming on her back staring at the sky.

Ren managed to mimic her actions and only moved when a sound of stomping hooves were heard from a distance.

She glanced over towards the sound, it could have been a monster but she didnt care.

At a speed almost impossible to see, a shadow darted passed her and halted. It turned out to be Bakura riding on the back of a shadow-like horse and the white-haired male hopped off.

She darted upright and looked over relieved it was him. "Another pet?" She asked.

He shook his head and held out an arm. Almost instantly, the horse dissolved and reformed as the snake commonly known as Pep. "Time's up," he told her, walking towards her.

"Yay," she mused and returned to floating there. "Have fun?"

He shrugged. "I managed to explore quite a lot, so I suppose so. Did you relax?" As Bakura spoke, Ren's form shifted back into that of a snakes.

"A bit," she muttered and looked over at Ren beside her, "I was in good company."

Ren grinned and cuddled beside her. "They're nice to be with..." Bakura said, a sudden far away gaze entering his eyes.

"They are," She floated to the edge turned and crossed her arms on the land resting her head down on them, "Hey," she looked from him, "thanks."

He seemed to snap back into reality and snorted. "Yeah, yeah," he replied, going back to his usual self. "Now let's get out of here."

Nodding slightly now a bit upset, "sure." She picked up her head and looked at the timer clicking a button they both returned to their bodies.

Bakura sat up and stretched high into the air, sighing. "That sure was an adventure," he murmured.

"Yea," she muttered standing and walking over to the controls where a large stack of paper sat in a printer. She picked them up grumbling something.

Bakura came over and leaned an arm on her shoulder. "Care for some company while you work?"

She smiled though it felt awkward, "sure. We'll go to my office upstairs, we won't be bothered there."

'Not like we would be anyway,' Bakura thought but followed her on her way. "This is going to be incredibly boring, right?"

She chuckled, "most likely but there's a tv in there you can occupy yourself with." She walked from him and down to the lab to grab the rest of the paperwork.

"Thank Ra!" he said, still tailing her.

She allowed herself another laugh and left the lab, "I'm sorry this bores you it's hard to avoid."

"I know that much," Bakura told her. "Doesn't mean it still isn't boring. Let me know if I can help you at all."

"I will thanks," once back in the main hall of the house most of the lights were still off. "Seto and Mokuba must both be out." She muttered to herself and walked down the hall.

Bakura followed, lost in thought. 'Does Kaiba treat Mokuba the same way he does Aura?'

She stopped at a door and unlocked it then allowed him to enter into the room before she followed in and locked the door again.

"Does Kaiba even know about what you're doing to help me?" Bakura found himself suddenly asking.

She walked to the desk dropping the paperwork, "No, he didn't even ask questions when I was stabbed or pushed off a building." She said with a pain on her face.

Bakura bit his lip but didn't reply knowing that it would only make things harder on her.

She suddenly didn't want to work, for a while she just stood there staring off into space. A part of her wanted to break down and spill everything to him, but the other half wanted her to push it away like she always did.

Bakura, finding the floor more comfortable than a chair, laid out on the floor and stared at the ceiling. 'She's hurting. I can tell...'

After a moment she hissed to herself shaking her head then sat at her desk immediately digging into work, though there was something still off.

Bakura sighed quietly, deciding that prying wouldn't be a good way to resolve the issue. Instead, he took what he called the 'Ryou Approach' and stayed quiet.

She tried working for a while but her mind was running everywhere but at this work. Letting out a frustrated growl she sat back in her chair.

"Having problems?" Bakura finally said, deciding to screw the Ryou Approach all together. It wasn't helping one bit.

"Can't concentrate," She sighed rubbing her eyes.

"There a reason why?" Bakura questioned casually.

She was afraid to answer him, her pride was stepping in. Taking a deep breath she said, "yea."

"Well? Are you going to tell me or are you going to try and hide your problems like Ryou does? Because let me tell you, that didn't end well. You know, when I was almost bloody killed by him!" Bakura said loudly, then took a deep breath to calm himself.

She looked at him, "you made me think about my relationship, about my life about everything. I realized how much I hate everything about me and my life."

"Why do you hate everything about yourself?" Bakura asked slowly. It wasn't time to interject opinions, but merely to hear her out and prompt.

"I just do, just like I did then." She looked down at the paperwork.

"Then?" he prompted her.

"Egypt," she muttered "but we won't get into that last time I did we argued."

Bakura simply nodded, not knowing what else to do.

She frowned, "Seto is like he was then, he'd rather work than pay any attention to me. He's probably still in love with Kisara, I stick around because I feel bad for Mokuba."

Bakura frowned deeply. "He doesn't deserve you, nor Mokuba," Bakura said, finally voicing his thoughts.

She smiled shaking her head, "I think that allot, then I think of everything he did to make sure Mokuba had the best life and ended up turning into a dick."

"What has he done that isn't selfish?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know, not anymore at least." She sighed.

"Then why stay with him?" he asked. "If he provides no benefits, why bother?"

"Because there's no one else," she whispers.

"So you feel you need to be with someone in order to live?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

"No that's not it," she sighed

"Then I repeat, why do you need him?"

"I don't need him I have money, a friend, I'd be able to live without him." She said harshly then frowned closing her eyes.

"Then why, dear Ra, don't you?" Bakura asked, completely confused/

She didn't answer because she didn't know. For a while she just sat there upset, "I don't know."

"If you have absolutely no reason why not, then leave."

"You're right, you've always been right," she let out a long sigh and looked at her desk once again.

"Exactly. You should listen to me a bit more." Bakura stood and stretched his arms up. "Promise me one thing though. Finish these tests with the equipment you need here, and then leave."

She looked up at him studied his face for a moment then nodded, "alright."

He nodded, sighing. "Glad to see that I've done something helpful... Now you should probably work."

"You're right, I should." She muttered looking back at the piles of paper.

Bakura pulled up a chair and sat by her, watching.

She first began sorting through the papers, stacking them into different piles before she started reading one of the piles.

Bakura leaned on his elbows, sighing.

She made it through the first stack quickly, and had highlighted items, then moved onto the second one when a door slammed down the hall. Growling gently she glanced up, "I'll be back." she stood and headed towards the door.

Bakura frowned but nodded slowly.

She left the room only to return moments later more pissed off than she was before. Whispering something under her breath she sat back down, "sorry about that."

His frown grew as he looked at her. "There a problem?"

"Seto's home and he's pissed I don't know where Mokuba is." she said diving right into her work.

Bakura said nothing more and leaned back in his chair. After about twenty minutes he stood and left the room without a word.

She watched him leave then worried suddenly, ' I said too much,' she thought and couldn't seem to concentrate suddenly.

Bakura wandered down the halls, unconsciously looking around for Seto Kaiba himself.

Her foot started tapping as she waited nervously, she tried working and ignoring everything else but she found it was near impossible.

Bakura soon found a door closed and seemingly locked. With a clenched fist, he knocked on the door.

She hissed, waiting. Seto had just removed his jacket when a knock on the door disturbed him, walking over he opened it and growled, "what are *you* doing in my house?"

"Nice greeting, bastard." Bakura shoved his way into the room, glaring. "If you had been paying attention, you'd realize that I've been in your house a lot actually."

His face tightened as he narrowed his eyes on him. "Why exactly have you been in my house?"

He laughed, enjoying the look on Kaiba's face. "You'd just love to know, wouldn't you? Maybe if you paid attention to the house and the people in it, you'd already know."

He grit his teeth growling, "do you have a point? Or shall I kick you out now?"

"Feel free to. I'll just sneak back in." As Bakura left, he called over his shoulder, "You should find something missing real soon. Let's see how long it takes for you to notice."

Seto let out a low growl watching him leave, but didn't decide to follow or attack back, he knew the fight wasn't with him.  
>Aura sat there her foot still tapping as her fingers clicked away at the desk nervously.<p>

Bakura entered the room with Aura a few minutes later, looking content. He sat back in his seat and leaned in his chair, acting as if nothing had happened.

"You didn't kill anyone did you?" she asked her foot stopped tapping and her hand laid at ease on the desk.

He shook his head, smirking at her. "You'd better finish working soon," was all Bakura said.

Still worried she looked at him, and studied his face for only a moment before she returned to work, this time drawing out designs and formulas.

Bakura dozed off in his chair, content and satisfied.

She worked through the night, at one point she glanced over at him to find him sleeping and smiled softly. 'He's so difficult to understand,' she thought standing from the desk, she walked to the small couch and picked up a blanket then lay it gently over him before returning to work.

Bakura sleeps surprisingly soundly, burying his face unconsciously into the blanket and smirking a tad.

By morning she had the design finalized, she was sure it was foolproof, but still didn't have an answer to his problem.

The white-haired male slowly began to wake up, shifting uncomfortably in his chair.

Hearing him move she glanced over, "morning," she said gently and looked back at her work.

He grunted his reply, neck stiff from sleeping in such an uncomfortable position. "Yeah, that..."

She chuckled shaking her head, "I was going to move you, but last thing I wanted to do was wake you."

He nodded groggily. "Yeah," he repeated, still trying to wake up.

"Coffee?" she asked looking back over at him.

Bakura nodded once more. "That'd be great, thanks." He stretched and rose. "Find anything yet?"

"Not find, not yet, but I think I may have invented something to help until I do," she said standing, "come on, I'll go make some coffee."

Bakura followed her, growing excited. "You figured something out?"

She shrugged heading down the halls, "well I managed to figure out the source, just not how to exactly help it in anyway."

"It's a start, Bakura decided. "Tell me over coffee?"

She nodded with a smile, once in the kitchen she prepared the pot turning it on. Then, she grabbed two mugs the cream and sugar sitting it on the table. "hungry?"

Bakura's stomach growled as a reply and he frowned. "I can't remember tge last time I ate actually..."

Aura laughed and nodded, "no problem." while the pot of coffee was brewing she went to the fridge and began pouring stuff out, then went to work cooking.

Bakura laid his head on the table, smirking in her direction. "I should hire you more often..." he joked.

She laughed again, "speaking of hire, I am going to need some sort of payment for all this hard work," she said sarcastically.

"Oh yes, allow me to pay you back in the blood of all my victims," he retaliated, laughing.

"No thanks," she chuckled shaking her head, and began cooking eggs and various meats.

The smell of cooking meat made his mouth water as he murmured, "Rare please."

"Yea, yea, I know, just burning off the cold." she smiled and walked away from the pan for a moment to pour two cups of coffee, then handed it to him before walking back to the pan.

Bakura downed his cup in about a minute, not realizing how hungry and thirsty he was until now. "Not bad..."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it," she chuckled and poured him another cup. She prepared two plates of food and passed him the plate and a fork. "Don't choke."

The fork unnoticed by him, Bakura proceeded to eat his food at a rate faster than he had known possible.

"Gross," she grunted and slid the second plate towards him grabbing an apple.

He wolfed down the food, only pausing to look up at her. "So, what'd you find out?" he asked through a mouthful of food.

"Finish eating before you talk to me, that's just gross," she said with a chuckle holding the apple, but not eating it.

He rolled his eyes and focused on eating. Finishing a few minutes later, he eyed Aura and took a small sip of coffee.

She took the plates and rinsed them off in the sink as well as the pan. Then turned leaning against the counter with the coffee in hand, "Not much, as I said, it might take a while before I figure anything out for certain."

"Well, and hunches at least? Something?" Bakura questioned impatiently.

"I haven't really gotten through that part of the information yet, but it's confusing. You don't lose power when you use it, but at the same time you do, it's like it expands, regenerates and rests," she sipped her coffee.

The blank, confused look on Bakura's face said what his words couldn't.

"That's what the computer read at least, and I know it's right." she looked away from him with her coffee held tight in her hands, "Just please, until I can figure something more out, try to stay out of the shadow realm."

He nodded slowly, still confused. "Sure..."

"I wish I could give you a better answer but I can't right now." she looked back over at him, "is there any questions that I may be able to answer?"

"Besides why is it happening, how does it stop, and what'll come of me? No," he replied.

"Why? That question you can answer yourself. Wasn't it you who sold their soul to become the darkness?" she asked. "What'll come of you? there are two options, either it'll will grow out of control, or you'll die. Or both."

"A pleasing thought," was how he chose to reply, though he nodded in understanding.

"I'll figure it out," she said softly looking down, "I promise."

He simply nodded, staring down into his coffee. "What about Ryou? He dies too, right?"

"Yea, it has nothing to do with your soul, it's your body, mostly." like a light bulb came on she gasped. "shit..." without another word she rushed out of the room and into her office.

"What, what!" Bakura called, spilling his coffee as he ran to chare her.

She ignored him until she was rummaging through her many piles of paper making the once nice organized desk into a destruction. She grabbed one and pulled it up looking at it, reading it.

Bakura stood hovering over her, trying to read over her shoulder impatiently.

"Your power is linked to your body, it's in your blood, but that doesn't explain why Ryou hadn't been able to use it, he should have if he had the Ring since he's blood linked to you." she continued reading

Bakura only nodded, waiting for her to figure out more and make things clear.

She stared at the paper then scratched her head, "but it still doesn't quiet make sense, somehow there was a bridge that was connected when you entered his body, something maybe the ring." she turned suddenly ignoring the fact that he was right in her face, "I want to test the ring."

He shook his head sharply. "Hands off the ring! If you mess with it, you could mess me up!"

"True right, hmm." she looked down thinking then leaned on her desk. "we wouldn't want that. But, I think if I can figure out a way to limit the ring, it might put a lid on your cups."

"You are NOT touching the ring!" Bakura said angrily. "No exceptions."

"I know, relax." she said not moving. "I'll try to think of another way. I'm just thinking of all possibilities. Your power is connected to your body," she touched his chest, "but for some reason," her hand trailed over his heart and stopped, "it's bound to your soul, and that's what controls the power."

He moved he hand off lightly, frowning. Bakura was lost in thought.

She snapped back into reality and quickly moved from him and around the desk. Then began going through papers, "one body, two souls." she muttered.

"That's how it's always been..." Bakura told her.

"I know that, that's not the problem, it's just confusing." she had totally lost her train of thought.

"Always has been," he said to himself, sitting down in a chair.

She remained silent for a while, and began writing things out on a piece of paper drawing lines to random notes and circling others. Her mood becoming worse and time passed.

Bakura, deciding not to disturb her, went to go make lunch.

She sighed when he left and laid her head down on the desk closing her eyes, 'none of it makes any sense, it keeps leading me right back to that damn item.' she thought

Bakura managed to burn toast, spill juice, and break the oven in less than ten minutes.

She grunted frowning, 'so confused...' she swear she heard her phone ring but was too tired to move.

Bakura returned an hour later, his clothes burned a tad but a plate full of charred toast in his hand. "Lunch anyone?"

She must have dozed off because when she woke up at first she thought the house was on fire and she snapped upright then saw Bakura standing there. "what the hell is that on the plate?"

Bakura frowned, biting his lip. "...Toast?"

She chuckled, "you're the only person I know that manages to burn their clothes making toast." she stood walking over to him.

"Be lucky I saved any for you!" he said in feigned anger.

Smiling, fighting another laugh she took one and munched on it, although it felt and tasted like she was eating a burnt rock, she smiled and finished it off then grabbed a second one and returned to her desk.

He smiled back, placing the plate by her desk and sitting beside her.

She finished off the second and grabbed a third, she was too hungry to care about what it tasted like. She continued working yawning slightly.

Noticing that Aura was still hungry, not to mention that he hadn't actually eaten anything, Bakura left to make more... Toast.

She watched him leave and grabbed the paper she was working on the followed him out

In the kitchen, Bakura grabbed a loaf of bread and started stuffing the entire thing into the toaster.

She walked into the kitchen and sighed, "you're doing it wrong.'

He turned around to glare, frowning. "I know how to make toast!"

She nodded with a smile, "right that explains why your shoving a whole loaf of bread into a toaster."

"Exactly," he replied, not sensing the sarcasm. Somehow, he managed to shove a quarter of it in and it began toasting while he smirked back at Aura.

She chuckled watching him then walked over to the fridge grabbing a can of soda and sitting with the papers

Several minutes later, Bakura was whacking a now a blazed toaster with a sponge he had seen laying around.

She burst out into laughter watching him then grab the fire extinguisher putting the fire out.

As she put the fire out, Bakura muttered, "I meant to do that..." He had never been one good in the kitchen.

She looked over at him, "how about I make some lunch?" She smiled politely

"You're working," he countered. "I can handle it."

"Can you not burn the house down? I still need a roof over my head."

"Yeah, yeah..." he muttered, walking towards the door. "I'm robbing a fast food joint, want anything specific?"

"Grab me whatever, thanks." She smiled grabbing the papers.

Bakura left, making his way out of the house from the first open window he could find.

She returned to the office and worked, Mokuba ended up showing up sitting with her and chatting


	27. Chapter 27

About an hour later, Bakura wandered through the front door. He held a bag that read 'Taco Bell'. "Hey Aura... and..." Since it was Ryou who usually spoke to Mokuba, Bakura couldn't find himself remembering his name.

"Mokuba," she smiled finishing his sentence. "Hey, um..." He paused remembering there last encounter. "Bakura." He finished

Bakura's eyes narrowed at Mokuba as he sat beside Aura and took out five or so tacos. In a matter of seconds, he downed the first and was moving to his second.

Shaking her head she looked at Mokuba then shrugged her head towards the door nodding he bolted out of the room and she began eating the first taco

Bakura chuckled at the sight of Mokuba, but only for a second as he shoved the second into his mouth and moved to a third.

She slowly ate the one taco and scribbled something down on a paper than took another bite.

Five minutes and four more tacos later, Bakura was reaching for his seventh one.

She dropped the pen on the table and finished off her first taco, "come on." She said and headed to the door

Bakura took tacos seven and eight and followed her out, still munching.

She led him down to the basement where they stopped in a different room full of random parts and a table near the middle.

He shoved the final taco into his mouth, crewed, and swallowed. "What's all this?"

"Spare parts," she began grabbing parts and tossing them on the table.

"...And we're here because? Are you finally assembling... Well, whatever it is?"

She nodded and began working cutting and building, after a moment she looked at him, "come here."

Curious, Bakura walked towards her. "What's up?"

She grabbed a black band and turned towards him, "may I see your arm?"

Hesitantly, Bakura stuck out his right hand. "May I ask why?" he questioned, mimicking her tone.

She grabbed his wrist gently and wrapped the black band over it measuring then cut off a few things, "too tight?"

Bakura shook his head. "Fine, but why?"

"You'll see," she said softly and released him turning away and continued working.

Groaning, Bakura did nothing to protest and instead sat down to think.

She worked for a couple hours absolutely silent then smiled softly standing, "there we go! Now to program it,"

By then, Bakura had actually managed to doze off, laying on the floor. One hand was wrapped around his Millennium Ring, an unusual sight for the ring was almost always tucked under Bakura's shirt.

She looked over about to ask him something but quickly silenced. A small smile appeared on her face and instead grabbed a nearby laptop, hooked up the new device and began working again. 'Lucky...' She thought with a long yawn.

Bakura shifted a tad, his face contorted in worry as he slept.

Hearing him shift she looked over at him then grumbled watching him. 'I wonder what he's dreaming.'

His frown grew as sleep wore on for a few minutes, but after that, a look of sudden serenity overtook him. He stopped shifted and laid out peacefully.

She watched him the entire time and while the laptop was uploading the program and she left the room and went down the hall returning with a pillow and blanket. Kneeling beside him, she gently lift his head and put the pillow under him then placed the blanket over him.

Bakura's hands unconsciously wrapped around the blanket as he snuggled close to it for warmth.

She smiled watching him then sighed standing and returning to the laptop

A few hours passed as Bakura slept soundly, but finally reached the point where he wa showing signs of awakening.

She eventually rest her head down watching the laptop as the program was finishing up.

Bakura stretched, yawning. "Ma... Morning..." he murmured, rubbing his eyes.

She sat up looking over at him then glanced at the clock, 'two days,' she thought. "Morning." She said with a smile.

Sighing, he walked over to her. "What's new?"

She unplugged the device from the laptop and smiled, "a watch." She said showing it to him. "This little device will measure your levels if it gets too high or too low it'll beep." She said handing it to him.

Bakura peered at it, poking it lightly. "And you think it works...?" he asked, surprised, impressed, and curious.

"It's got the same program as the virtual pod, only difference is it doesn't really read blood but the electric pulses in your blood."

"Hmm..." Bakura nodded. "Interesting... And you're positive it'll work?"

"Nope," she smiled, "I was going to test it last night but you were sleeping."

"Should we test it now then?" he replied.

She nodded gently and grabbed the laptop standing, "yea lets go."

"Go where? The room from before," Bakura asked, following her out.

"Yea, no point in going to the virtual world I know you don't like it there." She smiled leading him down the hall

He nodded, sighing in relief. "That room is much better anyway..."

"I figured," she said walking into the room. "Like before just be careful."

"How so?" Bakura asked her, knowing the answer but smirking at the fact that she needed to remind him.

"How so what?" She asked looking at him.

Bakura rolled his eyes. "Forget it," was all he said, entering the room. "What do you want me to do?"

"No what did you mean, I'm curious now."

He sighed. "I said nothing, now tell me what I'm supposed to do."

"You're so difficult," she laughed, "do whatever just be simple and don't overdo it."

He sighed, nodding. "Yeah, sure, I can handle that..." The last part was more to himself than anyone else.

"Let's hope so," she sighed to herself worried he might get hurt.

Bakura walked to the other side of the room, making sure to be as far away from Aura as possible. "Are you sure you want to stay in here...?"

She sighed and nodded, "you don't need to keep asking that, I'll be fine. Besides, I trust you," she smiled warmly.

Trust. Such a strange word to hear someone say without the words "I" and "Don't" before it. Bakura merely nodded back at her, surprised.

She leaned back on the wall and opened up the laptop looking at it, this time didn't worry about the shield, "go ahead and begin whenever you're ready."

He turned his focus back to the task needed to be completed and closed his eyes slowly. Breathing in and out calmly, his lips formed the familiar and complex chant that began a swirl of foggy mist around his feet.

Instead of watching him, she watched the charts on the screen, watching them move as he began

The familiar cloud of mist settled after a minute or so and it was then that coils began to form. Small at first but growing rapidly, more than fifteen of them surrounded Bakura and raised a good ten feet in the air.

"If you hear a beep, ignore it, continue, it's just noting you that you've reached a level." she said and almost on cue his watch beeped.

Bakura gave a slight shake of his head, not daring to speak and lose concentration. Coils multiplied quickly and Bakura bit his lip, a worried crease on his eyebrows.

She glanced up watching his expression and muttered something, a shield appeared around her, she was tired so she knew she wouldn't be able to keep it up for long, or keep it strong at all.

About thirty coils now swung lazily in the air, much larger and thicker than usual. Bakura was breathing more heavy than usual, his eyes clenched tightly.

She hesitated then stood upright, "if you can stop..." she said to him, not sure if he could or not, but was worried.

One of the pillar-like mist clouds slammed down a foot from her. Bakura clenched his fists, becoming more and more worried fast.

She flinched and looked at him, more worried for him than herself.

Multiple coils made a loose circle around the white-haired male, blocking him from view as others turned to struck at Aura. Bakura groaned aloud from strain and sighed heavily.

Aura looked at the computer, and saw it charts were wild, 'that's what I thought' she thought and closed it setting it aside. Taking a deep breath she tried reinforcing the shield and grunted, she was weaker than she had thought.

Thick coils split themselves into tens of smaller ropes, aiming for Aura's legs as they shot violently towards her. 'Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' Bakura thought angrily. 'Why is this happening! I was fine before!'

Opening her eyes she saw the coils shoot towards her and knew her shield wouldn't have a chance against them. She was right, unfortunately as soon as they hit the shield, the shield fell apart, 'shit!' she thought

Sensing they had gained easy entry, eight of them zipped straight for her arms and legs.

Growling she attempted to get away only to have her foot trip over the laptop she just put down and fall straight on her face. 'of all the times to be clumsy!' she cursed to herself.

They shot for her joints, two at each wrist and ankle. The coils held her down as several of the larger ones prepared to strike her seemingly defenseless body.

She growled under her throat as she rolled onto her back and was pinned, 'alright think.' she thought, 'I don't have allot of energy but..' she started muttering a chant to summon a monster, anything to waste time.

Bakura himself was on the ground, gripping at his hair and desperately trying to stop himself. Despite his efforts and his attempt at hiding the truth, he had next to no power over his magick now.

Finishing the chant the soldier appeared like before and quickly cut her free stepping in the way as she hurriedly got to her feet and got behind the creature, 'not good' she thought gasping for breath.

More and more coils seemed to be appearing out of nowhere as about twenty of them aimed for the soldier. Their form was being altered and they now resembled snakes more than empty pillars of fog.

The soldier let out a low growl raising its sword, 'Bakura, please,' she thought taking a slow step back, preparing for the worst. The strain of the magic felt like she could pass out at any moment.

Bakura's control was like gripping onto dry grains of sand. No matter how hard he tried, it was all blown away by the breeze.

Trying to grasp a control she called the soldier for an attack and the soldier drew back its sword running towards the shadows before it.

The shadows allowed themselves to be split and from the torn parts, double the amount of original shadows grew. They surrounded the soldier easily, swallowing it up within themselves.

She let out a hollow yell when the soldier was surrounded and fell to a knee grasping for her chest. The Soldier nearly immediately destroyed, 'oh dear God' she thought closing her eyes, 'I can't do anything.'

They rounded on her quickly, about one hundred shadows turning towards her with the intent to kill. Bakura gasped aloud, grunting as a sudden but risky idea came to his mind. He forced words to pass through his lips quickly as the coils prepared their strike.

She remained on her knees and closed her eyes dropping her head, 'please,' she thought and prepared for the pain.

They struck without so much as a touch of hesitation, but were stopped a few inches from Aura's body. A shield, a white shield, surrounded her and glowed dully. The shadows seemed fearful of it as they moved back a bit to regroup and gather.

After a moment, when she didn't feel anything so she opened her eyes and looked to see a shield around her and her eyes went wide as she looked towards Bakura.

A thin line on white stemmed from Bakura's hands as his face was contorted in pain from the incredible strain. Said line connected to the shield around her and the coils moved away from him as well. However, the thick cloud of mist remained at his feet.

"Don't hurt yourself for me please," she said suddenly seeing his face in pain and it nearly killed her. "I can't see you in pain," she managed to get out, trying to shake off the faintness she felt.

Somehow, through the agony, he managed to look up at her and smirk weakly. "Always w-worrying..." Bakura said to her. The thread grew thinner and thinner as coils soon rounded on Bakura.

She looked away from him, knowing this would only be temporary. The shield wouldn't hold and she could barely stay awake, let alone stand. "Just let them finish me," she barely whispered to herself.

The coils all merged to form one gigantic, petrifying snake that opened its mouth to reveal hundreds of smaller ones within. It dove for Aura as Bakura cried out, 'NO!'

She closed her eyes, hearing it, not wanting to see it, She put up a second shield this one flickering, barely able to hold and she tightened her hands. Whispering something meaningful under her breath, "I didn't lie when I said I admired you, I had always wished for something I could never have." then bit her lip waiting.

A figure darted passed Aura and in front of her, Bakura. The coils struck him down and he fell to the floor covered in crimson. A huge wound grazed his shoulder having almost blown the entire part off all together. As Bakura fell unconscious, the mist started draining away and growing smaller.

She heard commotion and looked up to see the mist was fading away and Bakura lay on the ground. Fear ran through her for a moment and she struggled herself to her feet looking around for the cause of it all.

The coils grew smaller and smaller until they vanished entirely, though the thick cloud around his feet remained.

Stumbling, she rushed as fast as she could and dropped to his side seeing the wound, "damn it." she removed her jacket and pressed it to the wound. It wasn't the worse he had, he just needed to get to the hospital. Tying the jacket as tight as she could around the wound she summoned a small dragon to her side and took a moment to settled the pain.

A thin, weak coil slapped her hand away, still putting up a futile fight.

Growling she ignored any little resistance the shadows put up and ended up getting him on the dragon and outside to her car. Once he got inside, the dragon disappeared and she shot off down the street to the hospital.

The cloud about his feet remained, however. Thin coils similar to the first continually tried slapping her away from Bakura's figure, but it was more a poke than anything painful.

She glanced down while driving, sure the hospital staff would find the darkness around him interesting but she didn't care. A couple time her vision grew fuzzy but she shook it off, at the hospital she got out of the car and stumbled inside calling for help, as soon as nurses ran out into the car she grunted grabbing her head.

Bakura's breathing grew heavy and ragged as a coil managed to grow large enough to break a nurse's wrist.

Hearing the nurse scream outside she nearly fell going back out to the car and pushed her way towards the passenger seat where she saw the coils, "sorry Bakura," she grunted and with white hands began attacking the little coils back, hoping they would go away

The moment one coil died, another one seemed to appear out of thin air itself. Bakura's face contorted in pain as the unconscious strain he was putting on himself tore him apart.

"Damn it," she growled and dropped her head, "just stop already, you're hurting him, he needs his wound taken care of. Just stop, please." she whispered not sure if it was to the darkness or him, she just wanted it to stop.

Whether the shadows themselves had a mind to think with or not was unclear. They weren't multiplying, but a single coil about two inches thick and six inches long remained near Bakura's feet.

As if it would help she looked at the coil, "please let them help him, let them heal him." she said feeling sick and dizzy. "please," she begged, praying it would listen.

The snake-like coil remained stubbornly, lowering itself into the mist as if to tell Aura that it served as a warning and protection. Bakura groaned quietly.

"They won't hurt him," she said backing away and the moment she did there was someone there to help him from the car, she grabbed her head again grunting.

The coil, while still there along with the fog, made no further protests. Bakura moaned louder.

Although it was difficult to stay awake she stayed by his side until he was in a hospital room and a nurse kept her out. "Is he going to be alright?" she asked and the nurse said he would. "Good..." she muttered and blacked out.

Hours passed as doctors works on stitching up Bakura's shoulder. The fog didn't vanish for a second, not even when he was placed into a hospital bed for recovery.

She remained unconscious in her hospital bed, dreamlessly

After so many hours of being asleep, Bakura finally started waking up and immediately regretted it. The migraine he had was blinding him in pain and his entire body hurt.

Taking a deep breath, she woke up and grunted sitting up, "god, where am I?" she muttered to herself.

Bakura cringed at the sound of her voice. He felt like he was waking up from the world's worst hangover. "Q-Quiet..." he moaned.

She looked over suddenly and the turn made her dizzy but she stood, stumbled then stood upright. "You look like shit," she chuckled slowly moving towards him.

"Q-Quiet!" Bakura hissed, wincing as the sound brought a fresh wave of pain over him. He laid out on the bed, eyes closed and tired.

She smiled happy to see him back to his old self then finding herself dizzy she sat on the empty spot of the bed trying to remember what happened last night.

Strangely, Bakura was having trouble remembering as well. As he laid back, however, smoke from his feet drifted upwards in a loose, fog-like wall.

She felt a shiver and looked behind her seeing the fog and grunted, everything began slowly returning to her mind and she looked over at Bakura shocked, 'he saved my life' she thought.

Bakura let out a low, pained moan as he tried without success to get more comfortable.

"Painkillers," she muttered after seeing his discomforted face, and stood making her way to a cabinet and began rummaging through it before she found a small bottle of liquid. Grabbing a needle she walked towards him, filled the needle with the appropriate amount and tossed the rest to the side.

The smoke-like wall completely surrounded him, though it was transparent. Bakura groaned, mumbling.

"Um..." she muttered watching, 'maybe it'll heal him instead' she thought and dropped the needle on the table beside the bed before walking over and locking the door.

After a few minutes, Bakura worked up the strength to sit up entirely. "R-Ra..."

"Are you..alright?" she asked watching him.

Bakura shook his head. "I... Feel like shit..." He muttered, head spinning.

"Then lay back down." she said and moved up to him. "getting up won't help anything." she said more worried about him.

"You... Look like shit too... Sleep..." he muttered, moving off the bed entirely and wobbling a bit.

"I'm fine," she said, "don't get off the bed, lay down!" she growled.

"Need... To move..." Bakura told her slowly. "Need..."

"Need?" she asked, "but you can barely stand." she stood close by his side.

"E-En-" He cut off, collapsing back into his bed and sweating from effort.

She sighed, "I don't understand why you need to walk, but if you absolutely must have to at least let me help," she said sternly, but worriedly.

He nodded, attempting to stand again. The mist around him, however, seemed to have other plans and only grew thicker.

"I'm really hating that thing," she growled and stood close gently holding onto him for his support..

As fast as her hands grazed his skin, coils shot out and threw her back violently. Bakura gasped out in pain and fell to his knees.

Her back hit the wall and she let out a pained groan falling to the ground. "Ow," she growled and looked over at him then quickly moved towards him, careful not to touch him, "are you alright?" she asked again.

His breathing was full of ragged gasps as he tried to stand slowly. "R-Ra dammit, that h-hurts..."

She had to fight every nerve in her body to not help him stand, "maybe you should just sit, or lay down."

Bakura collapsed to a seated position on the floor almost instantly. "A-Aura..." he murmured.

She quickly kneeled beside him, "yea?" she asked gently.

"It h-hurts," he mumbled pathetically, groaning in pain.

For a brief second her heart stopped now terrified for him. Turning she grabbed the needle off the table and looked at him, "this is a strong painkiller, but I can't touch you."

He reached for it, but a coil blocked his path. "J-Just put it on the f-floor then..."

She bit her lip and did so, if he couldn't do it, she thought of a way that might work.

Bakura picked it up and stabbed it into himself, feeling better almost instantly.

She took a deep breath sighing glad he at least got it into his system.

"H-How are you feeling?" Bakura managed to spit out, his head pounding and his vision crossing a tad.

"Don't worry about me, just be quiet until you can settle yourself out." She smiled, wanting to console him but wasn't sure how.

"I'm f-fine," he murmured lowly. "I asked how you were." Bakura took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pulsing pain in his head as well as the rest of his body.

"I'm fine," she lied sighing knowing he wouldn't stop, "now shut up and try to relax."

"D-Don't tell me to sh-shut up," he replied feebly. "And d-don't lie either..."

"Well I did," she growled and sat beside him on the ground. "Is the painkillers working at all?"

Bakura shrugged, unable to honestly tell. "A l-little," he lied.

"Let's make a deal if you stop lying Ill stop lying she stood and walked over to the cabinet searching for something else.

'Damn her...' Bakura sighed heavily but nodded. "Sounds fair."

She nodded and grabbed another bottle then took the needle and filled it, "try this."

He waited for her to set in on the floor before reaching towards it and injecting the needle into his skin. Bakura groaned and laid down on the floor, the shadows molding to keep up a transparent wall around him.

She sat beside him and waited hoping it would work.

Bakura exhaled slowly, than looked up at Aura with a weak smirk. "So, did I help you t-test the watch?"

"I think I have to check it but last time someone touched those things snapped their wrist."

"...Snapped a wrist?" he asked as he slipped the watch off. Bakura set it on the floor and kicked it over towards Aura.

She grabbed it looking at it, "yea a nurse," she said opening up the watch

Bakura found himself chuckling a tad. "Oh wow..."

"yea it was great," she rolled her eyes

"So, how's the watch?" he asked.

"Nearly fried," she sighed.

"Dammit!" Bakura yelled out angrily. "It took you forever to make that!" He pounded his fist into a floor tile, cracking it deeply.

"Relax, its only little things it won't take but an hour to fix."

"Still..." he muttered, sighing.

"I'll have it fixed in no time at least it's still running."

"That's a positive I suppose," he replied, still sighing.

She chuckled and closed it up setting it beside him, "it'll be fine."

"Will you be fine?" he asked her, casually changing the subject back to her.

"Yea just a bit tired."

"Good to hear," Bakura said.

"I suppose," she sighed rubbing her head.

"So, how long am I stuck in this hospital?" Bakura questioned.

"Until you can get rid of those shadows,"

"I..." Bakura sighed heavily, looking towards the floor. "I'm not sure how."

"Alright, well let's get back home then, I need to talk to someone at my place." She sighed.

Bakura struggled to a standing position, nodding.

She walked to the door slowly by his side.

He stumbled on his way out, having to grip onto the wall for the majority of the walk.

She tried moving close to him but remembered the coils and stayed back until they got to her car.

The white-haired male slipped into the back, letting out a soft moan of relief as he was finally able to sit.

Turning on the car she sat back rubbing her eyes grunting.

'This is all a mess, a bloody mess...' Bakura leaned his head back, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead.

She drove down the road and thought, "should I bring you home or to my place?" She asked looking back

"Whichever. I honestly don't care." To be truthful, Bakura just wanted to sleep.

She nodded and drove to her house there were more medical supplies there for him. Then parked the car as soon as they got there

Bakura opened the door and got out, still wobbly on his feet.

Aura hesitated to help him again as they walked to the house.

He stumbled over the doorway and went straight for the nearest chair, plopping in it exhaustedly.

"There's a guest room just down the hall, no rush though gather you strength." She said sounding more like a concerned mother

Bakura noted her tone, managing a smirk before standing and rushing towards the guest room.

She moved after him and opened the door to the large room. "Try to get some sleep, if you need anything I'll be downstairs."

So exhausted from events prior, Bakura only had a chance to nod before he flopped onto the bed.

Chuckling she left the room and went straight to her lab.

Bakura let sleep take over as he settled into a pillow. The coils around him poked out and laid about the bed looking more like guards than anything else.

She sighed and began fixing the watch

Bakura continued sleeping, snoring soundly.

By dawn she was in her office studying her notes when a thought come to mind

Though it felt too early, Bakura's body began naturally waking up. He sighed softly, stretching.

She hummed questionly to herself and sat back thinking


	28. Chapter 28

After a few minutes, Bakura entered the lab. Shadows still crawled around him as he murmured a tired, "Hello."

"Morning," she growled seeing the shadows

"Morning," he replied, frowning as he noticed where he gaze was settled. "They won't go away..."

"Unfortunate," she sighed, "do you feel better?"

"I feel drained and exhausted, but alive," Bakura replied, settling in a chair near her.

"So go back to sleep," she said

"I feel so wanted," he replied sarcastically.

"I'm worried about you," she muttered writing something down

"Worried? Why?"

She only smiled, "here's your watch."

Bakura sighs heavily and waits for her to set it on the table.

She set it down on the edge closest to him then turns away.

Bakura slips it back on, frowning.

"I've got so good data from it but..." She frowned looking down. 'At what costs?'

"But at what price?" Bakura voiced her thoughts aloud.

She looked over at him shocked then quickly looked away not saying a thing

'A high price...' Bakura thought to himself, also looking away. 'She's much quieter nowadays...'

"No more tests," she muttered ,"your safety isn't worth it. I'm going to grab some coffee stay here." She quickly left the room.

Bakura sighed, watching her leave. "You were more interesting when I was trying to kill you..."

She returned not long after and sat his cup at the edge of the table refusing to look at him before she began working again

Bakura was growing more and more irritated by her actions every second. He gripped the mug tightly.

She was ignoring him highlighting and circling random spots on her notes then writing on her notepad

He slammed his hand down on the table suddenly, spilling his coffee but not caring. "STOP IT!" Bakura yelled.

She jumped and looked over at him, "stop?"

"Stop acting... I don't know, different!" Bakura yelled. "You're acting odd and it's pissing me off!"

She stared at him confused then went back to her work, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Bakura snatched up the papers she was reviewing and threw them onto another table. "You know perfectly well, dammit!"

She glared at him, "what do you want me do? What do you expect?" She said cooly.

"I want you to act like you usually do!" he growled. Bakura watched her for reactions to this statement.

She looked away from him quickly gritting his teeth, "too bad," she stood and went for the papers he tossed

Without thinking, Bakura gripped her arm tightly and held her down. "What did you say...?" he whispered menacingly.

She grimaced and shut an eye looking up with the other, "Too. Bad." She growled

"You..." His eyes glowed as he slammed the rest of her body against the table. "Bitch..."

She growled in pain gritting her teeth not understanding what was going on.

The shadows around Bakura were acting up in response to his sudden anger. They crawled up where his hand grasped her own.

She growled looking at him "Bakura, stop."

"Why should I?" he hissed, anger blinding him as he dug his nails into her skin. "You're pissing me off a lot, you know that?"

She grimaced again, "I'm trying to help you!"

"Your 'help' isn't working!" Bakura shrieked, shadows now snaking towards her throat at an alarmingly fast pace.

She watched him, "I'm sorry!" Closing her eyes she realized this was all her fault.

"Sorry isn't good enough!" He dragged her to the floor, eyes narrowing. "Not enough by a long shot..."

She tried breaking free once she was on the floor, "what do you want then?" She asked then stopped realizing what she said

"What do I want? Is that what you're asking me?" Bakura laughed, but it was higher and more insane than his usual sound. "What the bloody hell do you think!"

She remained silent and looked away. For the moment she feared for her life.

"No, truly. What the hell do you think?" A shadow pushed on the back of her head, propping it up to stare into Bakura's crimson gaze. "I'm curious," he said maliciously.

"You're not being yourself Bakura, stop this foolishness, besides I've never known what you wanted," she growled glaring at him.

Taking a minute to think, Bakura truly wondered what he wanted. What was his goal? To kill the Pharaoh. To conquer the world. To crush all in his path. "I want power, power in which I can control," was his reply. He didn't shift his position.

She watched his face, none of this was making sense, "then let me help you like I've been trying to do."

"Your help has done nothing but harm me so far!" he replied, slamming her head into the floor to emphasize his point.

She hissed in pain feeling dizzy for a brief moment, "I'm sorry. That wasn't my intention."

"But it happened regardless!" Bakura was growing more and more irritated by the second.

"Bakura please, I didn't mean too, I'm sorry." She tried breaking free again.

Her struggles only forced his grip tighter as more shadow-like demons held her down and surrounded the two. "How long will it take to fix?" he growled.

"I don't know," she muttered grunting in pain.

"Not good enough," he said simply. Blinded by unexplainable rage, he slapped her.

She remained still after the slap and frowned closing her eyes, "im sorry" was all she could say.

Bakura was sick of looking at her. He stood and simply left her, the shadows around her throat soon leaving as well.

She laid still for a moment hands over her face refusing to cry as she took a deep breath

There was a loud slam of the guest room door followed by multiple crashing sounds and finally the sound of glass shattering.

"Damn it," she got up and ran into the guest room.

The window was broken open and glass as well as blood droplets were spread out on the carpet. The bed was crushed by what looked like one large strike and the pillows were torn open completely.

"Of course," she sighed leaning on the door frame frowning. Knowing one of Setos violent freak outs were sure to come as a result of this.

Bakura, against Aura's wishes, laid in the Shadow Realm groaning loudly. He was fed up with life in general.

She left the room slamming the door shut and ordered the maids to clean up the mess, hopefully before Seto returned home.

"This is just such a mess..." he murmured to Pep who was keeping him company.

She had returned to her office and cleaned up the coffee and other mess unaware that she had begun crying.

"...And there's no way to fix it, is there?"

She sat on the ground resting her back against the desk curled into a ball with her head low. "I messed up,"

Pep nodded slowly, and Bakura stretched, closing his eyes. "Ra dammit... I'm a human time bomb."

For what seemed like hours she never moves and heard a door slam down the hall followed by an angry voice, she tensed.

Eventually, Bakura leaves and allows Ryou to take possession of the body.

By the time the door opened to her office she was standing against her desk her face free of tears.

Ryou, immediately sensing something wrong, goes to the first place he can think of: Aura's house.

After a lengthy argument and a single red cheek she left the room still fighting tears, she headed towards the door.

Ryou approached the door, biting his lip. 'Is this a good idea...?' He knocked hesitantly.

She opened the door as soon as he knocked and stood there for a moment shocked to see Ryou. Her name was yelled from within the house, "quick, let's go," she said with a shaky voice heading to her car.

Frowning and feeling more worried than ever, he follows her swiftly.

Once they were both in the car she squealed tired pulling out into the street and shooting off down the road, silent.

He stared out the window, his fingers nervously twirling a strand of hair. The shadow-like monsters that had been around Bakura were nowhere to be seen.

She drove until nightfall never saying a word and stopped on a ridge overlooking the city then stood and walked to the front of the car crossing her arms.

Ryou followed her, having stayed absolutely silent the entire time. He stood beside her, waiting for her to speak.

"I used to come up here whenever something bad happened, either I took a cab or ran here," she said softly and sat on the car, "I messed up bad Ryou."

He took her hand in his, staring out in front of him as he murmured, "No you didn't..." Truth be told, he wasn't even sure what she was talking about.

She shook her head, "I tried helping and I made everything worse, I hurt people and I didn't mean too," her hand tightened slightly around his.

Finally, Ryou knew he had to ask. "What are you talking about?" he asked slowly.

At first she didn't answer, "Bakura, Seto." Her free hand touched her cheek. "It was the first time he's ever hit me."

Ryou bit back any stupid replies and instead bit his lip. "W-Why'd he do it?"

"I defended Bakura," she muttered almost silently.

"You..." Ryou was so lost. What had happened between them? Was he cured? Was Ryou himself cured? And where did Seto fit into this mess? He sighed. "...Defended him?"

She didn't move or say anything for a while, only stared off at the city. "There's something within him, a curse that was awoken when I infused my magic with him. It's getting stronger, he needs to find the creature within him and destroy it, then he should have complete control." She said frowning.

"A curse on him... A monster... What?" Ryou's head was spinning and he held onto her hand tighter so as not to topple over.

"Just tell him, he'll understand, if you're confused there's a note for him in the car." She looked away.

"Aura, something's wrong with you specifically. Please, talk to me..." Ryou murmured. He was just so lost on everything that was going on...

She pulled away from him and walked closer to the ridgeline, "I'm fine," she lied.

"Aura, please. Please don't lie to me." Ryou stared at the ground.

She closed her eyes taking a deep breath, "I never wanted this life. I never wanted Industrial Illusions, to be rich. None of it. I wanted to live normally, but I never can, I was forced to grow up at ten." She bit her lip. "I was fortunate, so I try helping wherever I can, so I tried helping you and Bakura after everything my family did to him I felt it was my duty too."

Ryou nodded slowly, only vaguely aware of what she was talking about. "And you did help, a lot, Aura."

She shook her head, "I screwed up."

"How so? Everything seems fine to me..." 'But then again, what do I know?'

She turned and sat on the railing, "I tried helping Bakura, I ended up nearly killing him, now he hates me again. I tried fixing my relationship after you made me realize what I was doing wrong and messed that up." She looked at her hands then messed with the unusually empty spot on her finger.

"Bakura doesn't hate you, Aura... He's moody." Ryou glanced around as if expecting to be yelled at, but sighed a moment later when he wasn't. "And Kaiba's kind of a jerk from what I get out of him..."

"I loved him, because I was never allowed to have anyone else. Not then, not now." She finished almost silently.

"And who says that?" Ryou murmured.

She didn't answer only remained staring at the ground.

"Aura..." Ryou took a big breath, and spoke from his heart. "You have the opportunity to live your life as you want it to be. You can't let others drag you down. You're strong enough to overcome anything and if life isn't treating you well, then you need to fight it!" A tear fell down his cheek as he stared at the ground, mind elsewhere for the moment.

"Funny words to be coming out of your mouth," she said distastefully, "says the person who's tried killing them self multiple times. Besides, I can't change my life."

Ryou crossed his arms and spoke as if speaking to himself. "I have the Millennium Ring tied to my soul and as long as I'm alive, it always will be. I can't escape it, nor can I escape Bakura..." His head snapped up to look at her. "And, unless I'm mistaken, I see no ancient Egyptian artifact forcing you into a submissive state!"

"I don't need one," she said looking away over her shoulder towards the city. "I have my regrets, my sorrow that weigh me down."

"But you can get over it! With... With help... And I can try to help too..." Ryou's voice died down as he too stared out at the city. "I just want one of us to be happy, Aura."

"I'd rather it be the two of you, I lived my life happy once, and it cost Bakura is sanity. It was my father's fault he is the way he is now, and I owe him whatever it takes to set it right again." she said and stood frowning.

"What could you have possibly done to him to make him so... So..." No words that came to mind could accurately describe Bakura. The closest ones he could imagine would be 'messed up in the head'.

"His entire village, all of his family, all of his friends, my family killed for power." the mere thought of that nearly broke her down, but she was too proud to show her tears.

Ryou, however, was not like her. A tear fell as he whispered in confusion laced with hurt, "...W-What?"

"They needed 99 souls to create the millennium items, so my family slaughtered the village of Kul Elna, his home, for power. He was the only survivor," she grit her teeth and tightened a fist, "it was wrong."

The white-haired male had no words to say to this. For years he'd been pestering Bakura for the full story, just begging him to get even an ounce of information. And now that he finally knew, it tore his heart in half.

"It was my family's fault he is the way he is, I was too young, to do anything to stop it." she bit her lip, "if only he knew how many nights I cried for him and his village."

Ryou nodded his head, eyes wide and filled with tears. He couldn't get himself to speak when his eyes suddenly grew distant. For minutes on end, he stayed like that until tears poured from his eyes and he whimpered, "I w-won't, I p-promise!" in a murmur.

She looked over at him, "promise what?" she asked for a moment oblivious to what happened, when she did realize he was talking to Bakura she sighed and crossed her arms.

He looked up at her and frowned, biting her lip. "N-No... Pity..." he told her slowly, fighting desperately to hold in tears. "N-None at all..."

She nodded and looked away allowing a soft smiled to play about her face, "you're right, no pity." she stood shaking her head, "I should get you home I still have research to go over."

He nodded wordlessly, shivering as he re-entered the car. 'Don't leave me with him in this state... Please...' However, Ryou couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth.

As she drove slowly, she watched him out of the corner of her eyes and noticed how seemingly nervous he was. Letting out a long sigh she closed her eyes shaking her head before turning her glance to the road, "you should come back with me, I could use the company." she lied quickly.

The look Ryou gave her was similar to one that a child would give when finding out they had a snow day for school. "Y-Yeah, sure," he stammered, instantly relaxing.

She nodded but never returned the smile, "just avoid Seto." she said pulling into the driveway, 'not like he'd bother us to being with' she thought and turned off the car heading towards the house.

He nodded obediently, trailing her like a puppy to its master. Ryou was just grateful not to be alone.

"I'm just going to grab my paperwork then we'll head down stairs," she muttered more to herself then to him and she did just that. She went straight to the office, grabbed all the papers then headed to the elevator to the basement.

The white-haired male followed her the entire trip, breathing slowly to keep himself calm. "Can I help in any way?"

"Just be my company," she said not looking at him then stopped in the large lab where some of the tests still lay out.

Ryou murmured, "Sure, I can do that," and pulled up a chair beside her. Almost at once, his eyes grew blank.

Like she did with Bakura, as soon as she began researching, she ignored him. This time, she was looking for weaknesses, something to help battle it.

Ryou snapped back into reality a few minutes later and twiddled his thumbs, frowning. He felt lightheaded and sighed.

She heard his sigh and looked over, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine..." Ryou lied.

She tsk'd looking back at her work, "you're a horrible liar." she grabbed a nearby paper and glanced at the scribbles on it.

"I'll be fine," he rephrased slowly. "Just a bit... Lightheaded."

She let out a long sigh, "in any normal situation I'd say your blood sugar's low." she stood and walked to a nearby fridge and returned with a soda, "sip on this, if it doesn't make you feel any better go lay down, there's a bed on the opposite side of the room."

Surprised by her sudden act of kindness, he took a small sip of soda and smiled. "Thanks, I won't distract you anymore.."

"You're not distracting me at all," she said not looking up from her paperwork.

He nodded, but then said, "Okay," because he noticed her not looking up.

"If it gets worse just let me know," she said glancing at another piece of paper.

"Sure... What are you looking for now?" Ryou questioned.

"A way to help him," she said absent-mindedly. "Hey may not allow you to have pity for me, but I still worry about him."

"As do I..." Ryou murmured. "And is there even a way to help? It doesn't seem likely..."

"there's always a way," she barely whispered

"But how do you defeat darkness itself?" Ryou said in a barely audible voice. He then recited, "With light comes another side, another face. Darkness and light go hand in hand because one cannot survive without the other therefore neither can be stopped," from memories of Bakura telling him.

"It doesn't need to be stopped, just controlled." she said and sighed rubbing her head. "I'll figure it out Ryou, I promised him I would help him."

"If only I could believe that..." The words were practically muted as they escaped Ryou's lips. 'So many have failed...'

"I won't stop," she said through gritted teeth.

"I believe you," he told her slowly. 'But even being persistent is useless if there's no answer.'

She growled under her breath, he was just as negative as Bakura was, maybe worse. She tried then thinking nothing but the work

Ryou, meanwhile, got to thinking. He closed his eyes, wondering about something.

After a while had passed she scratched her head then looked at the tests, maybe something was hidden in them? She glanced over at Ryou to find his eyes were shut but he wasn't sleeping.

"Aura, do you know any spell chants?" he asked her suddenly, opening his eyes.

Her eyes went wide as she looked away, "what for?"

"Well, what if my control's better than Bakura's? Or if I can learn something that may be able to help from the inside out?" he questioned, still pondering the thought.

"You can't use white magic, and I won't let you, not after what happened with Bakura. Besides, if he won't let me use black magic, I'm sure as hell not teaching you or him anything of mine." she added with a growl. "It's just too dangerous."

"But what if it can help?" Ryou pushed.

"I don't want anyone else getting hurt because of a stupid decision on my part. If any white magic is going to be done, I'm going to do it, even if I have to jump into the ring myself," she said turning her attention back to her work.

"NO!" Ryou yelled before he could stop himself. "I mean, uh... No, you shouldn't do that..."

"I don't care, I will if it has to be done." she said with every ounce of confidence in the world.

That was when Ryou did something very out of character for himself. He slammed his fist on the table and stood. "You will do no such thing!" he declared, a note of panic in his voice.

She jumped and looked at him, slowly she sighed and turned to face him, "you're going to stop me? How?" she growled glaring at him. "I told you once and I meant it Ryou, I intend on helping anyway I possibly can, if it comes to that I will do it, you will not stop me."

"I can and I will!" Ryou shrieked, growing hysterical. "You will not go in there and you will NOT look around!"

"I don't plan on looking around, the moment I step into that place everything dark will come after me." she looked back at the work frowning slightly.

"Then don't even bother going!" Ryou shouted quickly.

"Just stop Ryou, you're not going to change my mind, no amount of threatening or argument well." she leaned forward and rubbed her forehead, grunting

"Then... Then..." Not knowing what else to do, Ryou bolted for the door.

"Stop!" she yelled turning to face him.

He froze, fear forcing him to remain still.

"What are you going to do? Where are you going to run? You know neither of us will let you die, you're here with me now because you're afraid of being alone because Bakura woke up in a pissy mood and you know he'll take it out on you the moment you're alone." she said. "Sit down and relax, I don't plan on doing anything I don't have to, and going into the ring is the last and farthest option from my mind."

Ryou stared, shocked that she had guessed everything ao easily. "W-Why..." he whispered finally. "Why help me specifically?"

"Stupid, you're my friend. I watch out for my friends." she huffed crossing her arms.

Wordlessly, Ryou returned to his seat. 'Friends, we're friends...'

She turned back to her work, 'too much drama, Seto, Bakura, and Ryou...' she sighed.

Ryou decided to simply watch her work.

She worked silently until close to midnight when she glanced over, "why don't you go get some rest, I will be shortly." she lied.

"We both know that isn't true..." Ryou yawned loudly and laid his head on the desk, his eyes closing.

She waited until he was asleep before she snuck out of the room, "no sleep, just relax." she thought walking up to a virtual pod.

Ryou slept soundly, or at least his body made it appear that way.

As soon as she was in the virtual world she opened the private doorway and stepped into it, laying back on the ridgeline overlooking the palace and watched the stars.

After a few minutes, Bakura woke up and stretched, sighing.

She let out a deep sigh and shut her eyes frowning, her thoughts were all over the place.

Bakura wanders out of the lab, thinking. 'What if...' He headed towards the virtual reality pods.

For a moment she looked at the door, it was sitting right at the entry point of the world but she shrugged it off and closed her eyes again.

He entered and settled into one of the pods. 'If I can just...' He entered.

She let out a grunt and tightened her already closed eyes, 'confused...' she thought.

When he landed, he noticed Aura almost at once and watched her quietly.

A while passed and she let out a low grow running her hands over her face. "Confusing."

Bakura continued watching, curious.

Slowly she sat up and brought her knees to her chest wrapping her arms around them as she stared at the ancient palace. After a moment she frowned dropped her head low.

Finally deciding that he wouldn't be able to get done what he had hoped, Bakura cleared his throat loudly.

She jumped and turned over her shoulder quickly to see Bakura there, "what are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to be alone," he replied bluntly, walking over to her and sitting next to her.

She watched him until he sat beside her and for a moment was confused, "so you can to the virtual world? I thought you hated this place."

"I do," he responded vaguely. "Are you going to leave now?"

"Leave?" she muttered, "this is my private world you shouldn't even be here."

"Go have your world somewhere else then," Bakura said, laying back onto the grass.

Her frown grew as she shook her head, "whatever." she stood and began walking away.

He looked over at her and said in an emotionless tone, "Aura."

She stopped and glanced back, "yea?"

His gaze remained glued to the floor as he said almost mutely, "Thanks."

For a moment she stood there confused, "for what exactly, because from what it seems, and from what you told me I've made your life worse."

"At least you made the effort," was all he said, standing and also walking in the opposite direction. Ryou watched the transaction and thought sadly, 'No one else ever did...'

She frowned watching him walk away, at least the company was comforting. She sat down where she stood and laid back closing her eyes sighing.

Bakura stalked off in the other direction arguing with Ryou.  
>'At least she's trying!' Ryou murmured only to be shot down as Bakura grumbled, "But it's still not working. At all. Not to mention the fact that it's her fault in the first place."<p>

She curled her arms under her head, keeping her eyes shut she began thinking back to the very first moment they met until know.

'But what you're not seeing is that she cares enough to try and fix it!' Ryou yelled back in annoyance. 'Just accept the fact that someone cares already!' To this, Bakura remained silent and deep in thought.

The river, the bet, the fighting, everything ran through her mind and she tightened her eyes gritting her teeth.

"She must be after something, maybe the power or the shadow magick..." Bakura muttered as Ryou groaned. 'No she isn't! I'm sure of it!'

A scowl crossed her face, "he's like a two-sided coin," she muttered to herself.

The two white-haired males walked in silence, Ryou staring at the ground and Bakura looking directly ahead of himself.

After a moment she sat up and looked forward, trying to figure everything out.

'They'll need to make up eventually... And Bakura needs to see the truth also...' Ryou sighed heavily.

Growling she stood and began pacing, every emotion known to man running though her.

Bakura felt similar to Aura as his strides grew larger and larger.

She glanced over in the direction he walked off and her frozen grew, he was nowhere to be seen. "I hate this..." she muttered

"...so very much," Bakura murmured, finally settling at the edge of a willow tree.

She kicked a pebble in front of her and walked after him, slowly.

Bakura laid out under the tree, sighing heavily. Ryou, in his transparent, ghost-like form settled beside him.

She continued walking, her pace slow as she stared at the ground.

'You'll forgive her eventually,' Ryou told Bakura slowly. "No I won't." 'Will too.' "No way in the Shadow Realm." 'I know you will!' "NO."

She walked for a while and stopped glancing up, seeing the willow tree, she was still far away but she could see him and a scowl crossed her face again as she looked from him.

"Will you cut it out already?" Bakura yelled at what appeared to be air.

She looked over hearing him yell and knew it would be better to leave him alone, he was most likely arguing with Ryou.

'Just talk to her already!' Ryou screamed back and Bakura stood, his eyes narrowed. "Fine then, I'll find Aura. I'll expose her ploy in using me. And you'll finally stop bugging me!" He stalked off in the opposite direction she was.

Growling she turned her back on him, "not wasting my breath," she muttered and began walking back towards her original spot before he stood.

Bakura walked around the virtual world aimlessly, wondering how he could get out of it.

She stopped walking and turned, "damn it!" she yelled suddenly.

Bakura heard a noise and turned as well, heading towards it. "What the hell...?"

She let out a low growl and kicked the dirt beneath her, "ridiculous."

Bakura approached her, scowling. "I heard screaming."

She tsk'd tightening her fists then turned to find him walking towards her.

Bakura looked up at her as he passed, pausing for a moment. "You yelled."

"I'm pissed," she growled, "but not." she scratched her head, "I don't know."

"You're moody then," he told her, stopping all together.

"You have no idea," she growled crossing her arms. "Thinking about everything that's happened since we met, and I hate it."

He frowned. "What do you hate?" Bakura asked, his eyes narrowing as he too thought about it.

"Everything," she frowned. "You trying to kill me, you being nice to me, Ryou hating me, Ryou wanting to be my friend. Just everything."

'I agree...' Bakura thought, not speaking as he glanced down at the ground.

"Bakura, I..." she stopped not sure what she was trying to say, or where she was going with it."I'm sorry."

"For...?" he prompted.

"Everything. I came into your lives and I've ruined them. I thought I was helping the both of you, I was trying to console you, ended up pissing Ryou off. With the fighting and the hating, the blood, the shadows, the kiss, just everything," she rambled, "Everything."

"You're right," Bakura told her. "You have ruined everything." He paused for a moment. "But... You've made things interesting as well."

Her face tightened as she looked away, "I can't do anything right. If I get too close I get stabbed, if I get too distant one of you gets hurt."

"Then I suppose you'll have to find the in between, huh?" Bakura smirked at her.

She didn't return his humor, she only gave him silence.

He sighed, rolling his eyes at her antics. "No comments?"

A moment passed and she stood upright giving him her usual cold glare, "more like wasted breath," she said as if her whole attitude had changed.

"That there was wasted breath," came his retort.

She shook her head, "you're wasted breath." she added stupidly.

"And you're a child-like whore," he said evenly. "Glad to see we've come to an understanding."

"Oh? I'm a whore now? How perfectly great, at least Ryou was nice enough to just call me a slut." she rolled her eyes.

"A slutty whore then?" Bakura said in amusement. "Never knew the kid had it in him."

"You're a conceded ass," she growled but couldn't help but smile chuckling softly.

"I don't give a shit what you think," he replied easily, "Bitch."

"Blah, blah, blah, you're all talk," she sighed turning away from him.

"What, and you think you aren't? You're just a scared little child beneath that layer of ice."

"You're right, I am, but at least I can admit it, unlike you, who can't even decide how he really thinks about someone." she poked him rudely in the chest.

"You want to know what I think about you? Is that it?" He slapped her hand away rudely. "I think you're an overconfident bitch who helps others out of sheer guilt and nothing more, then fucks with their life until it's nearly impossible to end. Then you put on a sob story act and accuse others when really you should be pointing the finger AT YOURSELF!" he finished in a scream, jabbing his finger into her shoulder roughly.

Without thinking she swung at him connecting the side of his face with her fist. Then stood there unbelieving that she had just done that.

His eyes narrowed and the very air around him seemed to chill. "I'll kill you for that," he said in a voice low and emotionless.

"Oh another empty threat?" she growled, "when we first met I kept my personal issues to myself, but YOU and RYOU dragged them out of me, when you two got so upset that I shut you out and lied about how I really felt, so don't complain to me that you know a small portion of my sob story!" she yelled.

"I don't give a shit about your personal story!" he cried, tackling her to the ground. "I'm sick of you and even more sick of this!"

She growled hitting the ground and attempted to hit him, "sick of this? What exactly do you mean by this?" she snapped, "this constant fighting?"

"Sick of you and your attitudes and your lies!" he screamed, smacking her cheek roughly with an open palm.

She turned her head back after the hit and hissed, "lies? What exactly have I lied about?"

Bakura didn't answer and instead smacked her in the same spot once more.

She tightened her fist and swung out at him violently

He kept himself still, allowing her to connect with his cheek. "Great, you've just wounded myself along with Ryou. What do you hope to gain from that?" He swung at her once more.

"We're in the virtual world you idiot! I can hurt you all I want!" she growled and hit him again

"Then go ahead," he said suddenly, standing and taking a step back. "Beat me shitless. See how much it 'helps'."

She sat up and looked at him shooting him a glare, "you think you're so big and bad don't you? 'Oh I can take a few hits' "she mocked. "You're just as cowardly and pathetic as you've always been!"

He held his face out, pointing to it. "Go ahead, I dare you."

She took the dare, stood and swung at him again.

True to his word, he didn't flinch as she connected with his cheek. Bakura spat on the ground and murmured, "That was nothing..."

She nearly screamed at him, tackled him to the ground and hit him again, "I'm so sick of you, you're so stuck up your own ass! God damn it, it's not my fault you were too stupid to realize using white magic was wrong! Especially in the shadow realm!"

"But you were the one who taught it to me in the first place. You were trying to kill me, I understand already. So, what happened to beating me up?" His voice was icily calm.

She blinked, "If I wanted to kill you I wouldn't have tried saving you. I have no need or intention of killing you." she said and went to hit him, instead of hitting him her fist slammed against the ground beside his head.

Bakura looked up at her, eyes glowing in amusement. "Then what do you hope this conversation will gain in the end?"

She grit her teeth, "I don't know."

"Then why even bother? Why with this and why bother with me?" he concluded.

"You're just as important to me as Ryou is." she sighed and tightened her other hand.

"So you're calling Ryou worthless too? I thought you two were 'friends'," he replied sharply. "Not that I actually believed that crap."

She hissed, "I said you two ARE important to me you thickheaded asshole."

"What, important until you get what you can and leave us in pieces?" He took a deep breath and pierced a nerve. "Like in Egypt?"

She leaned back slightly, "is that what you're so pissed about? Tell me, what exactly do you think I'm here to take from the two of you? By the way, I NEVER left you behind but my sob story for you won't be wasted on your deaf ears."

"Three thousand years of reflection on the past is a long time, Aura. It gave me time to see everything how it was." He glared up at her. "And you, like that damn Pharaoh, are scum."

She hit him then screamed on the top of her lungs, "I AM NOTHING LIKE HIM!" her fists tightened ready for another strike, "you have no idea what I went through for you!"

"AND THE SAME GOES FOR YOU!" he shrieked, finally shoving her off and getting to his feet. "And you never fucking will..."

She glared at him, "Like you ever did anything for me." she hissed standing.

"What the hell would you have wanted me to do? Sit around and nod while you reveal the innermost emotions of your heart to me? It's all superficial garbage, the person who cries and the other who watches." Bakura crossed his arms.

She felt a pure rage burn inside of her and she took a step forward, "that's not what I wanted! Not at all! I wouldn't have told you how I truly felt even if I did get the chance too."

"Then why bother asking me to do anything about it if you wouldn't have told me in the first place?" he asked calmly.

"You're so narrow minded, everything I did wasn't so I could tell you how I felt!" she looked away from him trying to control her rage.

"What a load of crap. You only did it so you could get to me," Bakura told her, eyes narrowing into slits.

"No." she growled, "that's not even close to being true."

"Then what is the truth, Aura? Quit lying and SPIT IT OUT."

"Why do you care?" she screamed at him then took a deep breath. "You didn't care then, you don't care now, and you never will, so stop asking! One moment you're all like, shut up with your sob story, the next you're prying deeper into my life! CHOSE ONE! either care or don't!"

"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO CHOOSE ONE IF YOU WON'T BLOODY CHOOSE ONE!" Bakura exploded. "You care about me then you want me to piss off then you care and then you're a moody bitch! MAKE UP YOUR OWN DAMN MIND."

"Unlike you, I can chose a hell of allot easier than you! I care about your wellbeing, and for you, that's why I worry about you all the damn time! You're the one who can't make up their damn mind!"

"Maybe if you made things easier, I would! Maybe if you let me kill you easily, I would! Maybe if you just died, I mother fucking WOULD!"

"Like killing me will solve anything! You've had multiple chances to kill me, and recently, every chance you've had you've SAVED my life." she growled.

"Name one time," he hissed, already knowing he had lost the argument.

"How about the last time we were in the arena and YOU lost control of your powers," she said poking his chest roughly again. "YOU almost killed me, but just before the final blow you risked yourself, used white magic and saved me. Why?" she hissed sharply.

"BECAUSE!" he yelled, then his voice grew softer. "If I am to kill you, then it will be of my own freewill and not the will of the shadows."

"Sounds like a bad excuse to me!" she growled, "even before that, how about when you threw me off the roof? You had the knife at my throat when I shot that gun, you could have finished me right then and there, but you didn't."

"Too early to do so," he growled lowly.

"Ok, how about the time I was over hanging out with Ryou? You had plenty of chances to jump in and finish me off, torture me slowly even! And you never did! So stop making excuses!"

"ALL TOO EARLY!" he yelled, stomping his foot.

"So what the hell is your excuse now? Still holding that petty bet with Ryou?"

Bakura didn't answer her, but merely glared. Ryou, who was standing beside Bakura, sighed. 'I wanted you two to make up, not scream at each other...'

"So, is that in then?" she said softer than before, "you're not hunting me anymore because of that bet?"

"Piss off," he murmured angrily. Ryou merely chuckled. 'At this rate, I've got this in the bag!' Bakura turned to his left and yelled, "I SAID PISS OFF!" His words sent a shiver down Ryou's spine.

She growled angrily ruffling her hair, "THIS IS RIDICULOUS!" she screamed, "I can't even talk to one of you without the other pissing off the other!"

'She's got a point...' Ryou whispered. "Ryou, so help me Ra, if you continue talking I'll call off the bet right here, right now." Bakura glared at both the air and Aura.


	29. Chapter 29

"I fucking knew it." she hissed opening a screen and quickly typed away, suddenly Ryou stood beside Bakura plain as day like they did when she first brought them to the virtual world. "Call of the bet, now!"

Ryou looked down at himself, then over at Bakura. "She's good..." he muttered as Bakura's eyes only narrowed further. He then turned to Aura and said, "I can't afford to, Aura."

"I don't give a shit, I don't need anyone watching out for me. Call of the bet!"

"Ryou," she growled, "call off the bet, or I walk away from both of you right now, I won't care if this darkness consumes you or you stab and kill yourself." she lied.

Ryou bit his lip, all his prior confidence draining away. "B-But..." He was stopped by Bakura who merely grunted, "It's a hoax."

"It's not a hoax, I mean it Ryou," she growled, "call off the bet, now!"

"Fine then, I-" He was interrupted once more by Bakura. "Ryou, she's obviously lying. Even someone as brain dead as you should be able to see that."

"Why are you stopping him?" she glared at Bakura, "this should be a blessing for you!"

He turned to her and chuckled. "My dear Aura," he said sarcastically. "You don't think I'd enter a bet if there wasn't a prize for my winning, do you?"

"Oh? A prize? And what exactly is your prize?" she hissed.

Ryou blushed furiously and stared at the floor. Bakura opened his mouth to speak but Ryou slapped a hand over his mouth. "N-Nothing!" he yelled.

"Nothing?" she growled, "Tell me, or call it off."

"It's nothing!" he protested, blush spreading across his face. Bakura chuckled from under Ryou's hand.

"Liar," she watched his cheeks. "Both of you irritate me, neither of you can tell me the truth," she growled crossing her arms wanting to scream in fit again.

"It's simple," Bakura said through Ryou's mouth. "I wanted-" Ryou shrieked, interrupting him. "NONONO!" Bakura rolled his eyes.

"Let him speak Ryou or I'll send you to the farthest point of the virtual world for a minute. I am not in the mood for childish games."

Shivering, Ryou took a step back. "I don't have control of my life anymore..." he murmured.

She grit her teeth closing her eyes, "No, it's not that at all. I'm giving you the choice tell me the prize or call of the bet. Balls in your court."

Ryou turned to Bakura and nodded, the latter grinning darkly. "I want to figure out a way to create a vessel for Ryou to live in so he can get out of this Ra damned body. I have a vague idea of where to start, so it shouldn't take more than a month or so of research to figure it all out." Ryou stared at the ground, blushing.

"That's it, that's why you were so embarrassed to tell me?" she shook her head wishing he would have just called of the bet. "I suppose that's a good prize, and one you both deserve."

"That's not all..." Bakura said, smirking in Ryou's direction.

She rose an eyebrow looking over, "oh?"

Ryou turns around and says quietly, "The spell only brings about a female body, not a male one." Bakura laughed wildly as Ryou grew only more red.

She snickered, "good even better for the both of you, unless that's not your thing." she said crossing her arms again.

Ryou looked confused as hell while Bakura only chuckled lightly. "What does she mean?" Ryou asked the air.

"I knew you two had a secret thing for each other, it's not hard to see, besides Ryou you even admitted." she said frowning slightly. "but that's beside the point."

Now Ryou looked up, his face bright red. "WHAT!" he yelled.

"I asked you if you loved him, that's why you hated me and you said yes, in a shy way."

If it was even possible at this point, Ryou grew more red. Bakura on the other hand, smirked. "I knew I was hard to resist, but really Ryou?" The smaller of the white-haired males turned his back to Bakura and Aura.

"See?" she sighed looking away from both of them, her rage settled by this point and now she felt miserable.

Bakura, meanwhile, was laughing insanely. "Oh Ra, this is rich! My host, the same person I've abused his entire life, in love with me!" He cackled as Ryou dashed away from the two of them.

She didn't move or say anything, only watched him run him away.

Bakura calmed down after a few minutes, sighing. "Ra, that was rich..."

"I'm sure," she muttered

"He's so pathetic," Bakura continued. "So obvious."

"And you're not, why don't you go admit your feelings to him?" she said not looking at him.

"Feelings for him? He's nothing but a puppet for my usage," Bakura replied evenly.

"That's why you're going to help him get his own body," she shook her head sighing.

"Actually, no. I'm trying to get myself my own body and purging his soul is the only way to execute such a plan," Bakura told her.

She didn't say anything, only stared off silent, her thought wandered for a moment, "he interrupted our conversation," she sighed to herself.

"He tends to do that." Bakura sighed heavily. "When I store his soul in another body, I plan on leaving Domino City all together. When I leave..." he trailed off.

"When you leave what?" she asked concerned looking over at him.

"Take care of Ryou," he said finally. "He'll be in a strange body in a strange world and won't have a single clue as to what to do about it." Bakura stretched his arms up. "Not that I specifically care, but I figure the least I can do is get him help before I go."

She chuckled mocking him, "told you, you had feelings for him. You really do care."

"Not in the slightest, no. It's a final act of leaving, the cleaning up if you will," he told her.

"Sure, whatever," she sighed, "I wish he would've just called off the bet."

"Ryou wants to keep you alive and I want out of here. It all works out," Bakura said slowly.

"For the both of you," she sighed, "do neither of you care what I think or want?" she muttered.

"I can't speak for Ryou, but I personally don't." However, Bakura frowned.

"You don't?" she asked slightly amused then let out a chuckle, "of course you don't, foolish of me to think otherwise."

"But, out of curiosity, what would you want?" He looked at the ground.

She hesitated to answer and frowned looking away from him, 'both of you' she thought.

Bakura kicked a pebble on the ground, sighing. "Spit it out."

She looked at him to meet his eyes only to find him looking away. "The same thing I wanted then."

Bakura bit his lip. "It's not going to happen..."

"I know." she nodded, "I know all too well." she turned her back on him and crossed her arms looking away.

Bakura turned back around and murmured, "I may come back, I may not. I need to know if I can trust Ryou to you... And if I can trust you."

She found it hard to answer so she only nodded.

"I mean it, Aura. I won't have time to worry about either of you, so PICK UP YOUR HEAD AND ANSWER ME, DAMMIT!" His words were filled with unspoken emotion as he lifted her chin with a single finger.

Her eyes met his, "yes, Ryou will be safe with me." she said, her voice low and shaky.

Bakura's finger left her chin and he took a step back. "I start research tonight," he said simply. "Find Ryou, we're leaving."

"Find him yourself," she said harshly and walked away from him. "I have my own research to do." she sighed to herself.

"Then I suppose these are my lasts words to you; Fare thee well and may thy life prosper whilst I am away." Rolling his eyes at such a cheesy line, he left in the other direction in search for Ryou.

She left the virtual world and walked past his pod pausing looking down at him, her face tightened in pain, walking from the pod she knocked over a nearby table in her way and slammed the door shut behind her going to the lab

Bakura, finding Ryou after about thirty minutes of searching, left the virtual world and wandered around the mansion in search of a way out.

She eventually sat in her office head hung low, the whole place had been destroyed in a fit of rage, she placed her forehead on the table and wrapped her arms around her head.

The white-haired male sighed as well, and exited through a window. 'Did I make a mistake...?' he wondered as he walked home.

She remained miserable for the remained of the evening, never leaving the office, or from her position.

Finally reaching home, Bakura set to work researching and worked well inot the night. Monday morning, he allowed Ryou control of the body in order to go to school and give Bakura time to rest.

She slept in her office, and woke up in time for school but stayed home, her mood was miserable and she wouldn't chance seeing Ryou and breaking down.

Ryou spent all day miserable, wishing Aura would show up but she never did. He sighed, staring off into space.

Aura never left her office, not to eat, not to sleep, she remained dedicated to her work, trying to clear her mind.

Night fell once more and Bakura was back to studying and researching like never before.

Subconsciously, she ended up in the bar with some of her work and sat in the back corner reading and drinking, her mood still miserable.

As if their thoughts had been temporarily joined, Bakura found himself at the bar as well. He sat beside her and ordered a beer.

She was alone for a while, as if her mood was a dark cloud that everyone could see. Noticing someone sat beside her she sighed, "Go away," she muttered softly.

"Quit bitching. I'll drink where I please." Bakura smirked at her as his beer came.

She looked over at him and her mood worsened, she turned on him a bit and continued reading her papers ordering a much stronger drink. "do as you please."

He didn't reply as he downed a beer after a few minutes and ordered two more.

After a while when she had finished most of her next, much stronger drink she slowly sat up and looked down, "do you have to leave?"

"Yes Aura, I do." Bakura sighed after finishing his third drink. "I have more and more research to do as well as some time I need to reconnect to my roots. I should be gone for a while, but I may return yet."

Her hand tightened around the glass she held and it cracked slightly, "I thought so," she slurred slightly.

"Your glass is cracking," he stated bluntly. "Will you miss me?"

"Yes," she said quickly, without thought. 'more than you'll know' she thought not releasing the grip on her glass.

"A lot?" he pushed, words slurred a tad as his fourth and fifth drink came rolling around.

"Yes," she said quickly and closed her eyes, "I don't want you to go." her grip tightened and the crack grew.

"I have to go and go I shall," Bakura replied, sitting up a bit higher in his stool. "You won't miss me."

Her hand tightened and the glass shattered, a searing pain shot through her hand as alcohol quickly mixed with blood, but she ignored it, "how can you even say that?" she growled.

Bakura didn't look up, not even when the glass shattered. "Because people forget eventually."

"I never did, never have, I refuse too." she tightened her bloody hand not caring of the glass shards still in it. "I won't ever."

"You will, just like everyone else will. Give it time." He took a huge sip of beer.

"I didn't forget you thousands of years ago and I won't forget now." she said softly.

"Well, then I guess you'll be miserable." The alcohol was clouding his mind as he took another sip of beer and sighed.

"I guess.." she said pulling her hand towards her then looked at her palm, attempting to pull shards of glass from it.

Bakura sighed and took her hand. "Let me do it," he muttered.

She allowed him to take her hand. "I don't want to be miserable anymore." she slurred softly to herself.

Pulling out a knife, he dug around her hand and yanked out the glass as he went. By the time he finished, her hand was entirely red along with most of Bakura's hands.

She growled and winced in pain as she worked but didn't say anything else, feeling bad as it was.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips, hit tongue poking out of his ips and rubbing gently over her wounds. "So much better than alcohol..." Bakura muttered to himself.

She winced again biting her lip, but remained silent relaxing her arm in his hand, watching him closely.

He took one of her fingers in his mouth and sucked lightly, alcohol completely forgotten. Bakura's eyes trailed up to meet her own.

She watched him, her eyes meeting his and was too drunk to think clearly or any at all she bit down on her lip a bit harder.

His teeth dug into her finger as he nipped, desperate for more of the sweet-flowing liquid. Bakura's thoughts floated, but his eyes remained locked with Aura's.

She grunted softly as his teeth moved into her finger and in response her teeth dug deep into her lip, near splitting it, still she kept watching his eyes.

As he drank, his eyes glowed a brighter shade of red. He moved onto her next finger, biting down harder than he had with the first.

Her face twisted and she bit down on her lip splitting it open, then grunted again, for a moment her eyes shut breaking contact with his, but slowly opened to look back at him.

His eyes were illuminated completely, growing brightly in the dark lit bar. A smile curved on his lips slowly.

She watched his eyes, lost in their glow and frowned slightly, licking away the blood on her lip now. Her head felt lightheaded and her hand throbbed but none of that seemed important now.

Bakura's eyes were unblinking as he moved on to another finger and bit down roughly. Even other drunk bar-goers were begining to watch the scene, not daring to interrupt.

She could feel eyes upon them but she ignored it, brushed it off like the dizzyness, it wasn't important. Her eyes remained locked tight on his, watching him, unable to move away.

Bakura nipped harder, shoving her into the counter and moving to a standing position.

The sudden motion made her dizzy and she didn't move further struggling to see far enough to look back up at him.

Finally, a scared man poked Aura, frowning. "M-Miss? Are you alright?" he asked slowly.

She found it hard to look away from Bakura but the poke made her growl, "I'm fine," she hissed. "what's it to you?"

The man was suddenly thrown back several feet as Bakura broke eye contact with Aura. Blood dripped down his lip and his eyes were narrowed maliciously. "You... Die now."

Aura blinked, everything was happening too fast and it made her hand hurt.

Within seconds, the man was thrown violently against the wall and Bakura had a knife out. Others were racing out of the bar, all scared half to death. "You die..." He whispered. "You all do..."

She sat upright grabbing her head with her uninjured hand, and looked over at him, refusing to say anything she didn't want to piss him off in any way.

Whether he realized what he was doing was unknown. Shadows gathered around him swiftly and coils lashed out at bar-goers and blocked the exits. "Every last one, and their blood will be mine."

"Blood..." she muttered softy, "this isn't right." she stood though she stumbled too and nearly fell back again.

Crimson flew every which way as Bakura set to work quickly. He hummed merrily as more and more pathetic mortals fell to the ground, his stomach growling as he eyed the pools of blood on the floors.

She grunted and stumbled falling into a table, then used it for balance forcing herself to sit, not even caring about what was going on around her, she was just trying to get to him.

He sat on the floor, sticking a finger in a particularly large puddle as shrieks of terror and death cries were heard. Sirens sounded from outside, but none of it mattered to Bakura. All that he saw was the blood before him.

She glanced up at him and then slowly looked around, none of it phased her, maybe she was too drunk to care, she didn't know. The sirens echoing closer shot through her head and she grunted stumbling towards Bakura, "we have to go..." she mumbled.

He looked over at her slowly. His skin was deadly pale but his eyes glowed the purest of pure reds. Bakura looked confused for a moment as if he hadn't heard her, then murmured, "Why? I want to stay."

"Sirens." she grunted and fell so she sat on the ground, "I don't want to go to jail tonight, I don't want you to go to jail." she rubbed her head smearing blood on the face and grunting in pain.

Bakura leaned over and licked her face, grinning maliciously. His elongated canine teeth poked from his lips as he murmured, "They can't throw us in jail if they're dead, can they?"  
>Around them, shadows lashed violently and tore apart the building itself. Just about everyone inside was on the floor crushed to death and the sirens only grew louder.<p>

She shook her head and moved close to him as the building collapsed, the cold night air made her shiver and she looked over towards the street, waiting for the cars to appear.

Bakura looked positively mad as he scopped a handful of blood and dumped it over his head. He started giggling, quietly at first but it soon grew in volume. The shadow-like coils moved on from the bar and started tearing down other stores nearby it. The night air was chilled by screams of terror and painted red.

She watched him and shivered again at a particularly cold brush of wind. Glancing over at the corner of the street a car came flying around the corner and the lights plus sirens made her growl in pain. Muttering something under her breath one of her large dragons landed on the car crushing it.

His laughter grew in volume until it almost evened the shrieks around them. He lifted his hands up and brought them down swiftly, a mass of fog completely crushing a nearby bank and everyone inside of it. He was now covered in blood completely and people screamed as they tried in vain to run.

She remained sitting there close by him her arms wrapped around her shivering lightly and watched as the dragon took care of any of the police or other cars in the road, then began having fun with the nearby building. She let out a low grunt in pain grabbing her head again.

The noise made Bakura turn, still hysterically laughing. His entire body was coated thickly in shadows except for his wild, piercing eyes. Lightly, with a shadowy finger, he poked her head.

She looked up at him after he poked her and titled her head slightly then chuckled, "you look good."

His eyes widened and his mad grin only grew. Bakura continued to chuckle as he gazed down at himself, nodding his head. The multiple large coils about him had morphed into gigantic snakes and several of them were taking it upon themselves to devour one of the many Kaiba Corp skyscrapers.

She glanced over at the skyscrapers and smiled gently, watching the building crumble made her smile and she wasn't sure why. Her head still pounded, so without another though she slowly laid back in the puddle of the blood, just to rest her head down as she grunted again.

Bakura glanced over at her and sat beside her. He licked a blood-coated finger, his mad giggling finally ceasing. The male looked out at the city and a smile curved on his lips. 'I like it, I like it a lot...'

She smiled and hummed contently looking up at him, "what a perfect evening," she muttered to herself and looked back towards the sky, shivering lightly again.

"A beautiful shade of red to fill my stomach and sweet, sweet music to fill my ears," he murmured as a reply. The male's body seemed to be dissolving into the very darkness of the night itself.

She wondered for a moment why she hadn't been harmed during the events but her head hurt too much to think. Her injured hand run through the pool of blood she lay in then rose it above her looking at her injuries, dripping onto her cheek.

Bakura meanwhile vanished all together as the coils about the city continued their mad rampage. City goers raced past her, all desperate to escape.

She dragon walked over to her nudging into her raised hand and she dropped the hand to its snout watching it for a moment. "I'm going to rest, guard me, alright?" she said and the dragon looked disapproving but curled around her as she shut her eyes.


	30. Chapter 30

While Aura slept, madness and insanity terrorized the town. Reporters were calling it '2012 coming early' as the darkness around Domino City grew to unbelievable proportions. By morning, hours later, almost half the city along with a third of its population were dead, gone, and destroyed.

When she woke up the dragon was growling violently and she sat up slowly grabbing her head, "what the hell?" she sat up and pain shot through her hand, growling she looked at it confused, then glanced up at the dragon, "umm..." the dragon glanced down briefly before looking over again.

Police cars zoomed along the street and hundreds of reporters were gather outside a mess of rubble. A few sentences from their words were heard. "...Biggest event this century!" "Like a monster came to life and..." "...and it was just everywhere!" "It started at the Domino City Bar, right?"

"Shit..." she muttered and struggled to stand only to realize she was laying in blood, "God," she muttered then sneezed, 'I hope I didn't catch a cold' she thought funny that, that was her main concern. The dragon walked beside her, allowing her to lean against it before she climbed on it's back and shot into the sky, "find Bakura," she muttered rubbing her head.

Said white-haired male was sprawled out miles upon miles away in a dark alleyway. He was currently unconscious and surrounded in dead bodies and pools of drying blood.

Pulling out her cell phone she messed with it for a moment then brought up a program, his watched beeped nearly silently, "over there." she pointed, "fast now." she said and the dragon flew fast, shooting through the sky. Landing as the opening to the alley, she slid off the dragon, stumbled and growled to herself.

Bakura's mouth hung partially open and dried blood covered his lips. Shadows lay coiled thinly around him, raising slightly as she neared the sleeping figure.

"Bakura," barely able to walk towards him over the bodies, as she neared she tripped and fell grunting, her head was throbbing in pain.

The male shifted a tad, but remained in a dream state. Coils unwrapped themselves from Bakura's body and, morphing into a familiar snake form, looked up at her menacingly.

She sat back grabbing her head, shooting a glare at the coils, "you wanted nothing to do with me last night and now that I'm trying to help him you're going to fend me off?" she growled then grabbed for her head again. She looked at Bakura, "wake up Thief, you're not safe here." she sighed slowly moving towards him.

He shifted again, this time grunting. "My head..." he muttered, sitting up and looking shocked. "Where the hell am I...?"

"In an alley, you should see the rest of the city," she said sighing contently. Slowly she stood grunting and stumbled to stay upright, slowly she offered a hand to help him up, "let me show you, if your friends will let me." she muttered to the coils and looked at him, she thought she was covered in blood, he was worse than she was.

He looked up at her, then at the coils around him. Bakura took her hand as several snakes slid about her wrist. He stood slowly and murmured, "What about the city...?"

She helped him stand slowly, "it's nearly destroyed," she said slowly walking around the bodies stumbling still as she went until she did.

He nearly fell back down, coils acting as more of a grip than his actual hands. "It... Is?" Bakura asked slowly, still trying to wake up.

She nodded and the dragon moved into the small alley lowering its head for them, "yea, I don't remember much from last night though, I woke up at my dragon was watching over me." she patted the dragons neck. "I'll show you the city," slowly she got on the dragon and offered her hand to him again.

Bakura reached to take it, but it was several thin snakes that grasped her hand. "I don't remember a thing last night..." he murmured. "Nothing at all. I was at home, then drinking a beer, then suddenly asleep in an alley..."

She used what strength she had, plus the dragons help, to life him onto the dragon which took off into the sky over the city. "to the overlook," she said to the dragon who moved in the direction. "That's what I remember, plus a bit more pieces, but none of it makes sense."

The white-haired male nodded his head slowly. "The thing is, I don't feel hung-over either..." he muttered, then looked downward.

"Lucky you," she grunted closing her eyes, she held onto the dragon and nearly slipped off. grunting.

Bakura stared down at the rubble below and muttered, "Did a twister hit or something?"

"You did." she said resting her head on the dragon sighing. "someone interrupted us and you began killing."

He stared out and muttered, "I did all of that you say...?" Bakura couldn't get himself to believe it.

"Yea, then just as I passed out in the rubble of the bar you disappeared." she slowly lift her head off the dragon and grunted. The dragon landed on the overlook, looking at the whole city and she slid off the dragon then sat on the ground sighing.

"Disappeared" he repeated in confusion. "...What?" Bakura kept his gaze outward, surveying the destruction.

"Just...poof...disappeared, left me alone." she frowned softly resting back against the dragon. "as a parting gift you did however destroy Kaiba Corp, so thanks for that."

"People don't just disappear," Bakura argued. "And, uh... A new building never hurt. A change in scenery maybe...?"

She eyed him for a moment confused, "you seem upset because of it, I was rather happy." she sighed, "and yes, you really did just disappear, it was rather disappointing."

"I'm glad to have given you the 'gift' then and I highly doubt that still," Bakura retorted, leaning on the railing.

"If all your new abilites just disappearing shouldn't be a surprise for you." she said and closed her eyes relaxing for a moment, looking as if she had fallen asleep.

"What am I, a magician?" he asked himself sarcastically, growling. "That's bloody ridiculous..."

She shrugged, "not like there's any point getting upset about it. It's done, and I think we're both wanted." her face tightened and pain shot through her hand again.

"It wouldn't be the first time," Bakura said simply. "It's just another move."

"For you..." she said softly opening her eyes then glancing at her hand, slowly the nights events began returning.

"Well, why are you wanted do you think? Let's just find a station to watch the news on and figure things out," Bakura said calmly.

"I was with you when you started killing, then I began attacking as well," she muttered and nodded. "I have a safe house not far from here we can go to." she slowly and painfully stood.

Bakura walked towards her. "Good, how far is it? And do you need help?"

"I'll be okay I think," she said once she was at her feet, "thanks." she looked towards the city, "on the dragon, it maybe only like five or ten minutes away."

Nodding, he looked up at the dragon. "Then let's go."

She sighed then slowly climbed onto the dragon, just barely able to hold on due to the stiffness in her hand.

Bakura got on behind her. "You sure you can hold on?" he teased.

She chuckled shaking her head but didn't say anything,the dragon flew off and she held on for dear life, though she did her best to hide it

He laid his head down on the dragon's back, sighing. Bakura felt exhaused for some unknown reason as well as energy spent.

She remained silent until the dragon landed at a large house buried deep in the woods, and slid off resting against the dragon momentarily cursing under her breath.

"You don't seem fine," Bakura told her as he slid off as well. "Nor do you or I look it."

"You're right, I feel like shit and I don't think I've ever been this dizzy in my life." she growled and the dragon moved away causing her to fall back. She growled glaring at the dragon then called it away and it disappeared.

Bakura helped her stand and enter the building. Though he wobbled, it was a tad steadier than her walk.

She thanked him for his help and sat on the couch sighing, she turned on the television and put it on a local news channel then tossed the remote down sneezing again.

Bakura settled beside her and watched as pictures of the destruction flashed.  
>"...never seen anything like it, Ted. It was a monster, like one from childhood nightmares come to life." One of the reporters shuddered and the other one, Ted, nodded.<br>"It certainly scared me, Rick. We have a few pictures coming uo after the commercial break showing visual evidence of this monster as well as a mysterious female associate. Stay tuned!"

She grumbled under her breath looking from the tv and curled on the couch grabbed the blanket and wrapping it around her, "of course...'mysterious female associate' " she mocked under her breath.

Bakura chuckled lightly. "Well, we'd better 'stay tuned' to find out more, huh?" He then sighed. "Though it's very likely that they got photos of us..."

"Yea, I suppose," she muttered and stood, "I'm going to jump in the shower." slowly she walked towards the hall. She turned back to look at him, wanting to make sure he'd stay but only shook her head and continued walking.

"You'd better not miss the 'thrilling continuation'! You'll be on TV after all!" he called out to her sarcastically. Bakura sighed and murmured, "I wouldn't mind a shower later too..." to himself. A commercial for toothpaste played on the TV.

"There's a guest room right here," she said pointing to a door as she walked by it, "feel free to use whatever's in there, clothes shower, whatever." she said and continued walking until she disappeared behind another door.

Gratefully, Bakura went in and changed out of his clothes. He now wore a pair of tight-fitted jeans and a simple black t-shirt. The male went into the bathroom to wash his face off.

She took a quick shower, changed into a pair of slacks and a tank top before grabbing a sweatshirt and throwing it on as well. Sighing she walked back out into the living room and fell onto the couch curling into a ball at the end of it.

Bakura had ended up taking a shower after all, taking his clothes off and washing the dried blood from his body. As he worked, the news came back on. "And we're back! I'm Ted Martin," the first man introduced. "And I'm Rick Rogers," the other man echoed.

She grumbled opening her eyes to watch the television and pulled the blanket around her shivering.

"Now Rick, I do believe we have several photos as well as footage from the destruction, right?" Ted asked to which his reply was a nod. "This first photo is from the scene of where it is guessed to have started from. Here you can see a male with white hair accompanied by a female outside." The photo showed Aura on the ground and Bakura standing a foot away, though it was almost impossible to see the two through the immense fog that surrounded them.

She growled under her throat slowly sitting up, 'at least they can't see our faces' she thought.

Both Ted and Rick went into a long discussion over the photo, arguing back and forth as Bakura came out. He had one towel wrapped low on his hips, the other wrapping his hair up. Nasty wounds, cuts, scrapes, brusies, and scars showed all over his pale chest as he walked over to Aura. "What'd I miss?"

She glanced back at him then looked back at the screen, "they have a pic of us, luckily your shadows blurred most of it out. Hopefully they aren't smart enough to realize the dragon I used is the card that only I own." she muttered and pulled the blanket tighter around her.

"Not your smartest move to play it then," he replied. Bakura left the room and came back minutes later in his outfit. He took a seat by Aura just in time to see the next picture.  
>"This here is a photo of what look like gigantic black and transparent snakes tearing apart the Domino City Bank," Ted told the viewers as said photo was brought up. "Officials cannot figure out the cause for such a thing, nor what such a thing even is. However, they are hard at work and promise answers soon."<p>

"Like I was thinking clearly, I was drunk," she growled at him as soon as he sat down, "all I remember was those damn sirens were annoying and loud and I wanted to shut them up." she sighed watching the television again.

"I guess we both felt similarly then," was how Bakura chose to reply to her. Ted and Rick were off on a boring description of the same photo from a different angle.

She let out a low growl and stood, stumbled slightly before making her way into the kitchen to make some coffee.

"But Aura!" Bakura said in mock sorrow. "You'll miss the show if you leave the room!"

"Screw the show," she growled making the coffee and letting it brew. "Mahad was right," she said under her breath."

Bakura rolled his eyes and turned back to the television, lowering the volume. He was chuckling a few minutes later and called out to her, "I think they identified your dragon, Aura."

Growling again she walked back out into the living room handing him a cup then sat beside him, "just what I need to hear." she sighed sipping on her coffee.

The next photo that appeared on the screen was blurred so badly that it could hardly be seen. Red eyes flashed through the darkness almost clearly, though they looked very different from Bakura's eye shape.  
>"This here is one of the only clear pictures we could get from the supposed attacker-" "If you can even call it that!" Rick interrupted Ted. "It wasn't a man, it was a monster! Looked to be fifty feet tall with crazy teeth and glowing red eyes too. That is no man, Ted!" Ted glanced over at Rick, the latter of whom was panting from his outburst. "You weren't supposed to mention that on air!" Ted yelled, and started speaking again when the show cut to commercial.<p>

She looked away from the screen and sighed frowning. "how unfortunate." she muttered under her breath sipping her coffee.

Bakura on the other hand was unmoving and unblinking as he stared at the screen in pure horror and shock. A commercial for hardwood flooring came on.

Slowly, she looked over at him watching his face, "everything alright?" she asked confused setting her cup of coffee down.

He didn't speak, nor did he move to acknowledge that she had spoken. Bakura just... Stared.

She was confused, everything seemed out of character for him since this morning, he was all about destroying everything, now that he had attempted it, it seemed like it was the wrong choice for him.

Bakura rose slowly and made his way into the kitchen. His thoughts were a mess of conflicting emotions, curiosity, confusion, and all in all chaotic.

She stood and followed him, but stopped in the door way to watch him.

Looking around the kitchen, he muttered, "Do you have any alcohol?" He was so confused and just needed to calm down. 'How did... No, it didn't actually happen. The photo was blurred, so it could just be a mistake...'

"Um," she walked across the kitchen and opened a cabinet, which happened to be loaded. "you think it's a good idea to drink though? Especially because it was because you were drunk that you went on an rampage?"

Completely ignoring her, he grabbed the first drink his hands settled on and chugged it. 'It's not true, it was just a blurred picture. It means nothing... But that man said... No, nothing!' Bakura finished the drink and reached for another.

She hesitated but walked towards him, "Bakura, don't drink too much please." she said worriedly.

"Shut up," he hissed, then chugged a second drink. He didn't want to think about it anymore, nor have his mind come up with why his denial was so wrong. He just wanted to be good and drunk, passed out on the couch.

She frowned watching him but only nodded slightly. Her mind wandered back to that night and her frown grew as she turned and leaned on the counter.

After consuming drink four and holding drink five, Bakura stumbled his way to the couch and lied down on it. The commercials on TV were unusually long and one for a new brand of soda aired.

She followed, still silent and sat on the arm of the couch by his feet watching the tv with her arms crossed.

Bakura sighed as he sipped his fifth slowly. He didn't feel ready to pass out, but instead to throw up. And throw up he did mere moments later on the floor in front of him.

she growled and left the room coming back moments later with a trashcan and other supplies then began cleaning up the mess.

He sighed and shut his eyes as Ted and Rick came back on at last.  
>"I'm very sorry for that, folks," Rick murmured as if reading off a card. "What I said... Wasn't true." However, he shook his head after he finished speaking.<p>

She glanced back at the television when the report came back on, listening. "these hosts are annoying," she growled and brought her attention back to the mess.

"I agree..." Bakura slurred.  
>"...have with us today a Mr. Steve Scott who was one of the few survivors from the bar scene," Ted introduced. "Mr. Scott, if you will, tell us your side of the tale."<p>

She glanced up and looked at the man on the screen, "wasn't that the man who poked me?" she muttered.

Steve looked tired, but nodded at Ted. "Well, I was at the bar after work and figured a few shots would do me good. So I was drinkin' and saw a girl with this... Guy. They were getting it on from what it looked like at first until I saw blood." He shuddered a tad. "And those glowing eyes, like a demon's!" he announced. "So I tapped her to ask if she was alright and the man lashed out in a way I'd never seen before! It was like the very darkness itself was bending to his will!" He paused to take a huge sip of water.

She blinked, "getting it on?" she muttered and looked at her hand, the little bruises on her finger tips, she didn't understand. Turning, she sat against the couch watching the tv.

"And then so many other things happened... I saw as my coworkers were k-killed... And I barely made it outside alive," Steve continued slowly. "But by then things had only grown worse..."

Her frown grew as she watched, listening to this annoying male. "You should've killed him." she sighed running her hand through her hair.

"Don't know why I didn't..." Bakura replied to her.  
>"There was so much destruction outside, it was just... Horrible. Dead bodies littered the streets like garbage and blood like raindrops. That man and his girl simply stood outside, the male actually laughing at the sight!" Steve took a deep breath.<p>

She let out a sigh, "you know he's the only one who knows what we look like, and survived right?" she muttered looking over at him, forgetting for a moment he was drunk.

"Leave me alone," Bakura growled as a reply. "I wasn't thinking straight."  
>"It was simply bizarre, but that was only the begining!" Steve swore to the viewers.<p>

She looked back at the screen sighing. 'The whole night was just weird, I don't understand any of it.' she thought, 'why did he attack in the first place?' she wished he was somewhat sober so she could ask him and get somewhat of an answer.

Bakura groaned as a headache began throbbing.  
>"...then he just seemed to vanish into the darkness itself!" Steve was yelling on the screen. "Like... POOF!"<p>

She chuckled shaking her head, "see...poof...gone." she muttered, grabbing the remote she shut off the television and tossed the remote down, annoyed.

Bakura flipped over, his face in the couch cushion as he muttered something.

She looked over at him, "what did you say?"

He lifted his head up a tad. "This is bad."

She rolled her eyes, "yea, you think?" she brought her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Bakura wanted to elaborate, but bit his lip and decided not to worry her any more than she already was. "Yeah..."


End file.
